Maelstrom 13 Transitions
by illmatar
Summary: Ultra Magnus meet the parents! Rodimus vs Kup...things get really ugly. This scene contains strong language, violence, and sex. Rated M for adult themes! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Story and OC character are mine. Critiques adored!
1. Chapter 1

Maelstrom Chapter 25

Transitions A

Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original **Maelstrom Comics** and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.

**Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored!**

Transitions - Part A

Rodimus and Lancer slipped silently together towards the roof tops overlooking Iacon. It was dark. It was beautiful, and for once neither felt like there was something pressing that just couldn't wait until tomorrow. They took care that no one saw them. When they finally reached the summit they found nook and sat down. Rodimus put his back to an antenna support, and Lancer leaned against him. For a long time they just sat there; neither speaking or sending, just enjoying the view and each other's presence.

Lancer felt a slight chill on the wind, but smiled. It only gave her an excuse to snuggle closer. She felt something though, emanating from her mate like a warm glow, something she rarely felt in earnest no matter how often he acted it for his people. Joy. Pure, simple happiness. It surprised her a little, and she turned her eyes up to his face. She realized suddenly that she'd never ever seen him looking so happy before, and pulled back to get a better view. Wow. If she hadn't loved him completely already, she would have fallen hard right at that instant.

Why are you so surprised I'm glad? Rodimus sent, although he was transmitting far more than just words to her. You're finally WITH me, with no reservations. She felt his immense pleasure and satisfaction. If anyone had offered him one selfish wish, that would have been it. Lancer was still a little amazed though. It had been close to six weeks since the fight with Unicron which had taught her to trust herself again, and while she'd felt his gladness before, it was nothing like this. She knew the reason for the change though, it was an immense load off of her own heart as well.

Ultra Magnus. Magnus was awake at last, and even though he wasn't fully healed yet, this evening's events were enough to convince both of them he would be...eventually.

Worry for their friend had done a lot to temper their capacity to really enjoy their own victory over all the pain which had divided them. Now that worry was alleviated, and Rodimus far beyond the point he could have expressed his contentment in words.

He could laugh though, and he did, quietly, holding on to Lancer and rocking her back and forth as he laughed and laughed without a sound.

You're ridiculous, she sent to him. He responded with images of the previous hours.

Magnus' little surprise attack.  
Jazz flirting hopelessly with KC.  
Marissa's unexpected engagement announcement and how he and Jazz had both reacted as one - by falling to the floor in shock.

Magnus' once again animated face - laughing at them, teasing them, glowering at them when they asked for it. And they did ask for it again and again for the pure pleasure of seeing him respond.

"Want some tabasco sauce, Major General?" That had been KC. KC! Even Marissa had gaped.

"Certainly," Magnus had said, snatching the bottle from KC's startled hand from where she dangled it in front of him. Apparently he meant to have the last word. No one minded. "I think I've grown to like this stuff!" he continued, tipping his head back and pouring it in. He'd smacked his lips in apparent contentment. (There WAS one suspicious cough, but only one.) They had all groaned in disbelief and feigned horror.

"Want some Rodi?" Magnus had asked.

"Only if I have a drain to unclog," Rodimus had responded.

"Uggh! Magnus! I hope you aren't expecting me to kiss that mouth tonight!" Marissa had said.

"Hey! You were the one who taught me to like this stuff!" Magnus had pouted. And so forth.

Reliving all of this, Lancer was laughing as hard as her mate, just as she had been laughing when it had first happened. It was a delight to see Magnus awake and enjoying himself, and though they could see the occasional ghost of pain cross his face, they knew that if he could smile and laugh so soon after waking up that he would conquer the lingering wounds in time. He still seemed a little stunned himself by his engagement to Marissa, but it was a shock full of wonderment, as if he couldn't believe he ever could achieve or deserve such happiness.

Rodimus tightened his grip around his giggling mate still further, and understood that attitude completely. Lancer turned her smiling face up to his and they spent a good while kissing like teenagers. Somehow the occasional laughing fit didn't hinder them much.

Regretfully, Lancer's watch soon informed them it was time to rescue Daniel from Edana. It was a little disappointing but Rodimus entertained himself on the way back down by mentally seducing Lancer. For once she didn't object too much, but did her best to respond in kind. He was magnanimous enough to let it affect him a little, although not to the point where he felt the need to hang back like Lancer did when they got to Danny's quarters. Daniel was now a second year student at the academy and had moved away from his parents a few weeks earlier. He was discovering a few unpleasant truths to living on his own - he was broke, and since his schedule often clashed with those of his friends, he was often bored. He had jumped at the chance to look after Edana as a partial solution to both problems, and had taken care of her several times in recent weeks.

Even Lancer had to admit he was pretty good at it, but it was late, and they knew he had course work to keep up with.

Rodimus knocked, and then rang. For once Danny didn't answer right away, so Rodimus took the time to not only tease Lancer for her reluctance to move forward, but to worsen the condition which made her reluctant. She snarled at him half-heartedly for it.

He chimed the door again, and this time Daniel answered. As soon as the door opened, they knew something was wrong. Daniel looked frazzled and they could both hear Edana crying in the back.

"Hey kid," Rodimus said, trying not to act too concerned. "What's the matter with Edana?"

"Hi, Rodi," Daniel responded. He let them both inside, (Lancer's reluctance instantly vanished with the sound of her daughter's cries.) His relief that they were back was palpable. "I don't know. She's just been crying for the last fifteen minutes. She's not wet or anything, and she won't eat. I'm....I'm a little worried it might be that mutant thing."

Both parents managed NOT to visibly flip out at this news.

"What makes you say that?" Rodimus asked, picking his daughter up. "Hey, big girl," he said, adjusting her glasses. She sniffled at him, and seemed to relax a little. Lancer smiled.

"Well, erm...Mom and Dad dropped by a little while ago. You just missed them actually. Dad seemed pretty pissed off about something when they came in, although he didn't say what. Anyway, they made their usual fuss over her and when Dad picked her up she started crying. She was fine until then."

"Well. Is that the problem? Did bad old Spike get on your nerves? Danny, do you have a tissue?" Rodimus asked, then turned his attention back to the baby. "You are a snotty mess. Yes you are. That's OK though. You make snot cool. I'll tell you what! We'll give this nasty tissue to Spike. That'll teach him."

Daniel and Lancer exchanged ironic glances Rodimus was ridiculous at the best of times, but he was never worse than around Edana. It worked though. The baby hiccupped the last of her tears, and fell straight to sleep. Lancer smiled to herself again - she didn't have to lift a finger, although she knew she would be enduring Rodi's insufferable smugness for the next few days at least. They paid Daniel, thanked him, and left. It was several miles back to Lancer's quarters, but she knew better than to suggest her mate returned to Autobot form and drive them home. There was no way he was relinquishing that baby.

They walked.

Rodimus eventually shifted Edana off his shoulder so he could look at her face. He still saw more of Lancer there than himself, although everyone else argued to the contrary. He still found her absolutely fascinating. Lancer snuck her arm around his waist, which wasn't bad either.

"Kinda cute isn't she?" he said.

Lancer arched an eyebrow. It wasn't that she disagreed, but she sensed him leading up to something and was suspicious.

"Yeah. What of it?"

"Well, um...." Rodimus stalled. He had been shielding THIS little idea for a while, hoping to spring it on her without raising her suspicions first. He only needed to look at her to see it was already too late for that plan.

"Out with it Rodimus Prime," Lancer said. How did she make his full name into a threat? How did she do that?

"umm..."

"Rodi......." Oh boy. Her voice was down an octave and his name was starting to sound like a death sentence now!

"I..um..I..um..was just thinking that it might benicetohaveanotherbaby."

Lancer froze in her tracks, and opened her mouth to give him the reaming of a lifetime, and then stopped again. Her objection was automatic, and based on the same fear which had driven her away from him. How could such an evil person be a good mother? She'd never meant to have Edana in the first place. But before the words could escape, Lancer realized they were no longer valid. She no longer thought of herself as corrupt, so what was the problem?

She glared at her mate. There he stood in the street, holding their boneless little first-born and grinning at her hopefully. He may as well been a ten-year-old asking for a puppy, and that dumb grin got bigger with each second that passed without her screaming at him.

She narrowed her eyes at him again, and then shrugged, slipping her arm back around his waist. "You've been hanging around Blur too much. You're starting to talk like him. It's really sad."

If that grin got any wider his face was going to split, although he managed not to wake the baby by laughing or running yelling through the streets, which was what he wanted to do. Then he got busy seducing Lancer again in earnest. Having kids was too much fun!

X

X

X

The following morning:

The doorbell beeped.  
Nobody moved.  
The doorbell beeped again.

"Magnus? Can you get that? I'm in the bathroom!" Marissa yelled. She heard an incoherent groan from the bedroom.

"Magnus?! Wake up!"

Ultra Magnus, Autobot City Commander, rolled over onto his stomach and put his face in the pillow with a moan. For the second night in a row, Marissa had done her damnedest to challenge even HIS ability to keep up, and he wanted nothing more than to stay exactly where he was.

The doorbell beeped again. He put his head under the pillow.

"ULTRA MAGNUS!" Marissa said sharply. She wasn't yelling yet, but he knew he was heading for trouble. He sought to avoid the inevitable anyway.

"Damn it! What time is it?" he grumbled. "Marissa, it's 7:30! It's only Rodimus and Jazz thinking they're being cute getting over here so early! If we ignore them, maybe they'll go away!" As if to contradict him, the bell beeped again.

"Magnus...go get the door." Marissa said. How did she make a simple over-enunciation of each word sound so threatening?

"Fine! I'm going. I'm going! But if they are stupid enough to come this early then they get me as I am!" he growled vengefully, running his fingers through his hair. It had gotten rather long in the last few weeks. It tangled, and it annoyed him. Marissa had promised to vanquish it later that day, and Magnus grinned to himself. At least he didn't share Rodi's paranoia about having his hair cut.

"What was that Magnus?" Marissa said, not having understood that last part, but he didn't answer. Things might have gone more smoothly in the next few hours if he had.

"I'm coming. I'm coming!" Magnus rumbled, stomping his way through the living room. By the time he reached the door he was ready for a full-blown Magnus-style tirade. Get him out of bed would they? Not after today! He put his hand on the door and was complaining aloud before he ever got it open.

"OK Rodimus! What's the big i...i ....ohshit!" Confronting him was not the evil grinning face of his commander. Nor was it Jazz's overly cheerful little smile. It was two faces he had seen a few times as little distant specks by his Autobot ankles, and in numerous pictures around Marissa's quarters. They had never worn such stunned expressions before though. Panic overrode his reason. He slammed the door on those aghast faces, willing them to never have been there.

"MARISSAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"What?" she asked irritably, coming right into the living room in her thin robe. Usually, he enjoyed that thing, but right now seeing her body through the material only emphasized how much trouble they were in.

"Your parents are here," he squeaked.

She blinked at him, her face showing no response at all. Then she took off for her bedroom as fast as her legs would go.

The doorbell began ringing continuously, doing nothing to calm the panic of either of the apartment's occupants. Marissa practically tore her sheer robe and nightgown off her body, wadded them up as she ran, and kicked them under the bed. Now stark naked, with her parents pressing on the bell, and her equally panicked behemoth of boyfriend running around, Marissa lost all mental cohesion. Her closet transformed from a familiar, friendly place into hostile and unknown territory where every article of clothing seemed specifically designed to make her look like a tramp. Her hands shook uselessly in empty air for a minute and then tore violently through the rack. No, too sheer. No, who wears an evening gown at 7:30 AM?! No. No. Fuck! NO! Ughh! Wait!

Outside in the hall, Allison Hart-Burnett-Fairborne and Dashiell R. Fairborne exchanged a long look of complete shock. Mrs. Fairborne was blushing - she had gotten quite a view. Mr. Fairborne was flushed too, but for an entirely different reason. They had come to Cybertron, concerned about the way their daughter sounded when they talked to her, and determined to find out what was going on. Somehow an enormous, irritable, (BED-HEADED!), and nearly naked man answering the door surpassed their worst fears, even the far-fetched ones like drug addiction and fatal illnesses. They could hear his voice again faintly from inside.

"Marissa! What should I do?" Whatever their daughter said was too faint for them to make out, but they could hear the panic in her tone.

Dashiell, aka Flint, began pounding on the door with his fist. Maybe his daughter was a full Captain and a warrior in her own right, maybe she had been on her own for many years, but she was still his little girl, and right now he was entertaining serious thoughts of a real spanking.

His wife, being a little more realistic about her daughter's maturity, (and likely sexuality) chuckled just a little. "Well, at least we know what the problem is." Flint didn't find it funny at all - the image of that brute with his daughter was nothing he was prepared to cope with. Nothing in all his years of military experience gave him the strength to deal with the concept that his darling little Marissa just might not be a virgin.

When the door finally opened he was still pounding on it and he nearly hit his little darling in the face. It wasn't THAT close, but she flinched as though it was. Marissa might not be a virgin, but she had certainly dressed the part. She was wearing a demure, ankle length flannel nightgown with long sleeves, and a similarly cut, pink terry-cloth robe tied tight at the waist. Only a wart could have made her less appealing than the way the pink clashed with her hair, at least in her opinion. When Flint had bought her the robe years ago, Lady Jaye had told him Marissa would never wear it, but he had insisted it was perfect. Now when Marissa reached forward to hug her father he turned her around, and Lady Jaye smiled to herself. Reaching out, she grasped the tags that dangled from the back of Marissa's neck and pulled them hard. There was a faint snap.

Marissa threw her a look of sheer panic and then gratitude as her mother briefly flashed the incriminating tags and then swiftly hid them in her own pocket. "Thanks," Marissa whispered in her mother's ear when it came time for her hug. She felt Lady Jaye shaking with laughter.

"Anytime darling," she whispered in return. "I must say though, I can see why you wanted to keep him to yourself."

"Mom!" Somehow Marissa managed to keep her shocked voice to a whisper Flint couldn't hear. Marissa could tell her mother had already decided everything was fine after all, and wished things were as straight-forward as her mother apparently assumed.

No avoiding Dad's fuming though. "Marissa Anne Fairborne!" (Oh boy was she in trouble!) "Exactly WHAT is going on around here!"

"Uh... Well. Umm. Would you like some coffee? I can make you some."

"No young lady. What I want is an explanation." Flint said. He had made full general before he'd finally been convinced to retire, and it showed in his voice now.

Marissa sighed.

"Maybe...Maybe you two had better sit down," she finally said. Lady Jaye walked lightly to the couch - her eyes gleaming with amusement and mischief. She was apparently all for her daughter finally getting involved with some nice (and nice looking!) young (YOUNG! HAH!) man, and Marissa could practically see her making wedding plans and counting grandchildren. Marissa sighed inwardly. If her suspicions were correct, the grandchildren would proceed the wedding. Flint, on the other hand, sat down forcefully on the couch and was fingering an imaginary side-arm. Not a good sign. Marissa ran her fingers through her hair, opened her mouth, closed it, and suddenly decided she couldn't face them on her own.

"MAGNUS! Get out here!" she yelled. Don't you get stubborn on me you bast....  
"No!"  
"Mag-nussss!"  
"I'm not dressed yet!"

Flint's hands dug into the couch cushions and he turned a shade paler. Lovely. A suspicious sound escaped Lady Jaye, and Flint turned on her sharply. She mimicked his sour face exactly, but winked at Marissa the minute he turned away.

The bedroom door banged open, and the footsteps were painfully audible on the hard-wood floors in the hall. Please have on something decent! Marissa prayed silently, Please use some sense for once and listen to what I've been telling you! Please! Please look a little normal! The feet tromped closer, and Magnus loomed in the doorway of the living room, dressed in blue pants....and a red shirt. Marissa wished she could kill him. At least, her mind invented desperately, he looks sort of patriotic. They might appreciate that! She would take whatever comfort she could get. He had gotten his hair in order...except for that one little piece right in the back......... Her parents stared at the seven foot apparition in the doorway with the widest eyes she had ever seen.

"Sit down," Marissa said to him. She could tell by his stance that he was petrified and making up for it by acting defensive.

"I'd rather stand," he growled under his breath.

"Magnus, if you don't sit down and help me I'm going to kill you. OK?" She made sure her parents didn't hear that little show of affection. He drew his head back and snorted, but he did have a seat.

Lady Jaye watched all of this as if it was the most entertaining show of her life, and Marissa sighed when she saw the gleam in those eyes. Her mother was in the mood to make trouble.

"So!" Lady Jaye said brightly, confirming Marissa's worst fears, "Magnus is it?"

"Yes." Try to sound a little more unfriendly Magnus. Really. If you work at it, you might freeze them right out of the room.

"I see. Hmmm. That name sounds familiar. I'm sure we haven't met. I know I'd remember you if we did. Are you one of Marissa's co-workers?"

"You could say that." Magnus intoned. His voice sounded like it was coming out of a deep well, and he was gripping the cushions of his chair in exactly the same manner Flint was clutching the couch. Marissa had a briefly hysterical moment where she thought about having to buy all new furniture.

"And, what, exactly, are you doing here with MY daughter at this time of day!" Flint said accusingly.

Magnus blinked in suddenly confusion. "Wait....you don't really want me to answer that do you?"

Marissa smacked herself in the face.

"OK you bum! That's it! OUT! Get out of this apartment!" Flint shouted unreasonably. He had surged to his feet. Lady Jaye lost all control and started laughing. "ALLISON! This is NOT funny! And you young lady! You! You're grounded!"

Marissa couldn't help it. She looked at her father, still strong for his age, but he couldn't match her now, and he couldn't have budged Magnus in his prime. Plus the entire concept that she might be grounded.... She started laughing too. Magnus and her father threw her identical evil stares and she laughed all the more. Lady Jaye saw it as well, and when the men sighed in unified disgust, the last of Lady Jaye's composure went out the window. She could barely maintain her seat. After a few minutes though, Marissa found the shade of purple Flint was turning a bit worrisome, and got herself together.

"Daddy. It's OK. Sit down. Magnus doesn't mean anything, he..he just comes from...well. A different culture."

Flint glared at her. She tried to recapture the little girl expression which always cracked his obstinance when she was small and wanted something she shouldn't have. She saw it take effect and Flint's posture relaxed a little. Lady Jaye looked proudly at her daughter.

Flint sighed. Another culture. Right. "Magnus? Huh. He'd have to come from a different culture. What kind of name is that anyway? It sounds just like that Autobot you work with." Flint grumbled, slouching back down in his seat in disgust. Lady Jaye patted his arm. Magnus and Marissa stared at him.

No one said anything.  
They kept staring at him.

"OK. Fine! Where's he from? HAH! The next thing you'll tell me is he IS that Autobot you work with!" Flint said. If he had to be reasonable, then he had to be reasonable, but he didn't have to like it.

They kept staring at him.  
Lady Jaye quit laughing.  
Flint stiffened.  
Marissa and Magnus didn't blink.

Lady Jaye started laughing again, and all three of them turned to gawk at her in unison. "Well, it's obviously a joke, Dashiell dear! Don't you see! OK, Marissa. You've had your revenge. Now tell your father it's all a joke."

Marissa and Magnus kept right on staring.

"MARISSA!" Lady Jaye said sharply, "Tell us it's all a joke!" Her voice had a hysterical edge to it.

"I can't Mom," Marissa said, after several unsuccessful attempts to get her voice to work. "This is Ultra Magnus, and he IS the Autobot I work with."

"Well that went well," Magnus said testily when both of her parents passed out on the couch.

"I don't remember YOU being much help!" Marissa snapped. "Who told you to answer the door in your underwear anyway!? And what in the hell possessed you to pick out that shirt with those pants?!"

"I look right in these colors!"

"You look like a clown! Magnus! How many times do I have to tell you? You can't pick your clothes based on your paint job!" Marissa shrieked.

Lady Jaye, who had been coming around, passed out cold again at that last sentence.

"Oh shit! Mom!" Marissa said, feeling terribly guilty that she had left her parents unattended while she bitched about Magnus' shirt. "Magnus help me with them." They spent a few minutes trying to bring her parents around.

"This gives me new appreciation for what you went through the last few weeks," Magnus said gently, after a while with no success. Marissa smiled sadly at him, and finally got a response out of her father. Flint woke up in denial. Sitting up suddenly, he scolded Marissa as he had when she was small.

"Marissa this is far and away the most irresponsible thing I have ever even dreamed of you trying. Look at your mother! How dare you lie and shock us this way! There is no way this young man is an Autobot! That's impossible!"

Lady Jaye came slowly around, and stared about herself in dazed confusion.

"Mom, are you OK?" Marissa asked, choosing not to answer her father right away. She wanted to give them time to recover.

"And as for you young man, I don't know who you are but I'll see to it you are summarily demoted and..."

"With all due respect General Fairborne," Ultra Magnus said, rising to his full-human height. He nodded to himself when he saw that have its impact on Flint's expression and continued. "I am not in your jurisdiction to discipline in any manner whatsoever. As for my being a young man, I feel compelled to tell you I was a warrior and an officer in the Autobot ranks before your ancestor's discovered fire, and I am unaccustomed to being addressed in this manner." He stared Flint full in the face, not challengingly, but with the unbending assurance of military equals, which was, he felt, rather generous on his part. Lady Jaye gawked. She knew enough of body language to read absolute truth in Magnus' stance.

"He...he really is an Autobot..." she whispered.

"I don't believe it!" Flint said, although his voice lacked conviction.

Marissa stared hopelessly at Magnus. "You have to show them."

Magnus rolled his eyes her direction. "No I don't." Traveling to Med-Lab was NOT on his agenda for the morning.

"Yes. You do," Marissa said. Lady Jaye stared at her daughter. MAYBE this person WAS a millenias old robot soldier, but Marissa was certainly comfortable enough to give him orders.

"It will take a long time," Magnus said.

"You could try it Rodi's way," Marissa said soundlessly. She mouthed it clearly enough for Magnus to understand though.

"I...um...." Magnus stuttered, and then he thought about it. Rodimus had told him that the change would seem easier and easier with each transition, and it had. He had already relied on the capsule for far more many shifts than Rodimus had. Maybe......

"If I end up inside out on the rug, remember you told me to try this," Magnus told his mate, with a little amused affection.

"Be careful," she whispered, her eyes never leaving his. He stepped away from the couch into the open area of her living room which was designed to accommodate robotic guests. He tried to remember everything Rodimus had told him, and closed his eyes, imagining what it felt like to be...himself. There was a faint pain which dwindled rapidly, and convinced him nothing was happening. He was concentrating so hard that he missed the sound of shredding fabric and two faint screams. Still convinced it wasn't working, he opened his eyes and looked for Marissa. He was surprised not to find her right in front of him. Looking around, and not feeling the slightest bit strange, he finally found the floor...a few stories underneath him. Oh... Marissa had the proudest smile on her face, and he had no choice but to answer it.

Her parents, unfortunately, weren't celebrating his achievement in quite the same way. Lady Jaye was out cold again, and Flint was stammering incoherently.

"Can you come back down now?" Marissa asked. "I think it might be easier for them."

"You're never satisfied," Magnus grumbled. It hurt a lot more going back down to human form, and as the air hit his naked body, Magnus remembered Rodimus telling him to get one of the Maelstrom's morphing uniforms. Damn! Shouldn't have put that off! Lady Jaye awoke just in time to REALLY have something to scream about.

X

X

X

A few minutes later, Magnus was dressed again. He had chosen blue pants and a white shirt this time. Marissa sighed but said nothing. She had adroitly removed her parents to the kitchen while Magnus beat a hasty retreat for the bedroom.

"But what kind of relationship can you possibly have with him?" Lady Jaye was saying. She wasn't in tears, but her voice had a definite quaver to it.

"Mom, I love him. I really do. He's...he's very good to me." Magnus paused outside the kitchen door for a second. Maybe that was so, but he was still surprised by the amount of affection he heard in Marissa's voice when she said it.

"No!" Flint said. "This is impossible. I forbid you to see him again! We're taking you home. You have obviously lost your mind! For heaven's sake Marissa! We sent you here to learn more about the Autobots not become one of them!" Magnus nearly barreled through the door at that second, but he heard Marissa's no nonsense, no compromise tone when she answered and stopped short. He grinned. The woman was bringing out the big guns.

"I never asked your permission Dad." Captain Fairborne said. "It would be nice if you approved, but it won't stop me if you don't. I nearly lost him once already and it almost killed me. I vowed then I wouldn't give him up for anything, and each day that passes only convinces me more. I love him. I need him, and I fully intend to marry him and give him children if I can." She spoke with the same authority and determination which had seen her through the Decepticon wars, her initiation into the inner council, Unicron, and the traumatic weeks which had followed Unicron.

"MARRY!" Flint cried.

"CHILDREN?!" Lady Jaye shrieked.

"Children?" Magnus said, suddenly feeling very off-balance and upset again, and poking his head shyly through the door.

Marissa smiled at him. Why did all of this madness seem to make so much sense when she did that? She was sitting at the far end of the table from her parents, who looked at him as if he were a nightmare come to life. He went to stand behind Marissa, lending his full support to whatever nonsense she decided to proclaim. Children?

"And you!" Lady Jaye said suddenly, giving him a penetrating stare. (At least now he knew where Marissa had learned it.) "Do you seriously think that this is good for our daughter? Do you really think you are suited for each other? Or is this just some kind of brief fling in the backdrop of your immortal life? How can you love her? How can you really love her when she's so much younger than you?"

There was no lying to Lady Jaye, Magnus sensed, no more than there was lying to her daughter. That was fine though; in this matter he didn't need to lie.

"I take everything seriously Lady Fairborne, and I don't have flings. I've never lost my heart to anyone before. In fact, I had rather a reputation for not having one, the reason being that I have never met someone so well suited to me before. I have never met anyone as determined, disciplined, and mature as Marissa. I am finding, more and more these days, that maturity is a state of mind, not a count of years. I know Autobots centuries of years old who still haven't grown up. On the other hand, there are others, well, I know one Autobot who isn't even a century yet, but in a lot of ways he's the oldest person I know. It doesn't matter. What does matter is somewhere along the way, I lost my heart to your daughter and I need to be with her because I can't survive without it."

Lady Jaye stared into his sincere eyes and sat back. She studied her daughter for a second. Marissa was smiling up at Magnus, and there was no mistaking the look in her eyes - nor in Magnus' when he looked back down at her. Lady Jaye couldn't say she was delighted with all of this overwhelming news, but she was wise enough to know a hopeless battle when she saw it.

"OK," she said.

"WHAT! ALLISON!! WHAT WAS THAT?!" Flint shrieked.

"Dashiell Fairborne! Our daughter is in love! What exactly do you propose to do about it?!" Lady Jaye said with conviction.

Magnus couldn't help but smile. Feminine will-power was apparently a time-honored tradition in his beloved's family, as was male capitulation apparently.

Flint grumbled under his breath but subsided.

"You really love this...this...man?" he said suddenly to Marissa.

"Yes, Daddy. I really do." Marissa said calmly. She was smiling. She knew they'd already won.

"And you...Magnus. You love my daughter?" Flint said, not quite able to keep from sounding accusatory.

"You know I do," Magnus said.

"fine. whatever," Flint whispered, although they all heard him. "When's the wedding?" he suddenly said aloud.

"What?" Magnus said, taken off guard by the question.

"The wedding? When is it?"

"Uh...er...I...that is..." Magnus stammered.

"Daddy! We haven't set a date yet!" Marissa said, coming to Magnus' rescue yet again. "We just got engaged yesterday!"

"What?!" said Lady Jaye with a smile. "Why did you wait so long to tell us?"

They still had lots of questions of course, and were repeatedly frustrated when Marissa and Magnus couldn't answer them. Things like how could he become human, where had the technology come from, and were there other Autobots who could do the same thing? (Marissa fussed and fidgeted while they talked, and eventually she moved them back to the living room just to burn off some of her nerves. Lady Jaye liked the way Magnus squeezed her daughter's hand to help her stay calm. She also liked how it worked.)

"A lot of this information is classified General Fairborne," Magnus said.

"We both had access to extremely sensitive material when we were on active duty youn..er, Magnus," Flint said, insulted. "We can keep our mouths shut."

Magnus and Marissa exchanged glances. "It's not your mouths we are worried about," Marissa said. "It's telepathic scans and...other things. Besides neither of us are authorized to tell you."

Flint subsided. Telepaths he didn't worry about, (having never met one, he regarded them as mythological) but to him orders were orders and he wouldn't want his daughter to disobey them. He was still a bit surprised though that Magnus didn't have the authority to make that decision.

"I thought you were one of the top command staff," Flint said to him.

"I am," Magnus said, feeling no need to embellish.

They looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. Fine. Whatever.

"I fill what is basically the second in command's position, but I'm now technically third since we now have two Primes to brighten our days."

"And you aren't authorized...."

"No. I'm not."

"Well," Lady Jaye said, a little surprised, and a little frightened. She looked at her daughter, wondering how Marissa had access to such information. Not that Lady Jaye didn't have complete faith in Marissa, but she was still only a Captain. Flint must have been having similar thoughts.

"You have access to things like that Marissa?" he asked.

Marissa thought briefly of all the insane things she had access to since the day Rodimus had called her into his office and dragged her into his little world of intrigue. How HAD she ended up in this shit anyway? A zombie CO. A schedule like a form of torture. Assignments that gave her nightmares. And a big grouchy Autobot for a boyfriend. She smiled to herself. The perks made it all worthwhile. She only nodded at her father. He seemed proud of her. Her mother looked worried though.

"But how Marissa? You're only a Captain!" Lady Jaye blurted. She seemed a little upset with herself for saying it, but there it was.

Magnus answered. "We Autobots do follow some of the military ranking system you are used to, Lady Fairborne, but when the situation calls for it we ignore such things in favor of ability, and as I said, there is no one quite like Marissa. We trust her with things that I would sooner step on her superiors before I told them."

Flint chuckled a little. "You're joking right?"

"No," said Magnus.

They stared at him. He stared back. They decided to drop it.

"What about children?" Lady Jaye asked, changing the subject to one she felt more personally about. "You can't tell me its possible...?"

"It's possible," Marissa said with a smile. She thought Edana was pretty amazing. "It's DEFINITELY possible." She noticed Magnus giving her a wide-eyed panicky stare. "We'll talk about it later," she told him quietly.

"Uh-huh!" he squeaked. Children?

Lady Jaye smiled. She was already getting to like the big lug. For all of his authoritative posturing, he also seemed genuinely attached to and respectful of Marissa, but that still didn't assuage all of Lady Jaye's concerns. Flint may have forgotten what had brought them here in the tide of shocking information, but Lady Jaye hadn't. Something had been very wrong with Marissa in the last few weeks, and Lady Jaye was determined to find out what. When she'd been an intelligence officer she'd never let herself get distracted from her mission and she wasn't about to start now. Marissa had lost weight, and she seemed very tired to her mother's critical eyes.

"Marissa let's leave the boys in here to get to know each other, I want to talk to you in the kitchen." She had to fight not to laugh again when both of their respective partners looked up in pleading desperation not to be abandoned.

"Mom?" Marissa asked.

"Please?" Lady Jaye asked, with a reassuring smile.

Marissa gave Magnus an apologetic glance and then followed her mother into the kitchen.

Magnus and Flint were left staring at each other uncomfortably.

"Mom?" Marissa said again when they were alone. "What's wrong?"

"Sit down Marissa," Lady Jaye said, for all that it was Marissa's kitchen. She took the seat next to her daughter and took her hand as well. "That's what I want to ask you. We came all the way from Earth because I could tell from your voice something was wrong. Can you tell me what it is? Will you tell me? Are you and Magnus having personal problems?"

"No. No Mom. It isn't Magnus. Well...it was, but not the way you mean." Marissa said. Lady Jaye did not like the way her daughter's eyes glazed over one little bit.

"What then?" Lady Jaye pressed.

"He...he was hurt." Marissa said quietly.

"You mentioned that earlier. Can you explain? I thought Autobots could just repair themselves," Lady Jaye said, "He seems OK now."

"They can...it wasn't that kind of injury," Marissa whispered. She sniffed.

"Well, can you tell me? Or is that classified too?"

"I...I can't tell you the specifics," Marissa said, privately doubting her mother would believe her even if she did. "It was...It was a telepathic invasion. It left him catatonic for weeks. He's only just come out of it."

"Oh Marissa. I'm so sorry! And we had to come barreling in just when you're trying to get things back to normal!"

Marissa sniffled again, and smiled wanly. "You could have waited. I had all these big plans for breaking all of this to you gently, and you laid them all to waste in one fell swoop."

"Well then I deserve all the grey hairs this day will surely bring don't I?"

"Mom, you're hair's already grey."

"Shut up insolent child. It will be greyer. He's OK now though isn't he? He seems fine."

"He will be fine. He's...he's strong," Marissa said quietly, glancing at the door. They could hear the television was on. Sounded like a football game.

"So I gathered." Lady Jaye said with a smile. "And what about you? Are you OK?" She brushed the hair back from Marissa's forehead.

"Oh, you know me. I'm always in control."

"Uh-huh," Lady Jaye said.

Marissa started crying. "It was just so hard Mom! I took care of him all those weeks! We turned him human so he could feel more and be with me and I tried and tried to bring him around. He wouldn't even look at me most of the time, and when he did it was worse because I could TELL he was hurting and and..." she sobbed incoherently for a second. "I thought I had lost him for good. I really did."

Lady Jaye gathered her daughter to her and held her while Marissa cried herself out. It felt good to Marissa to lean on someone else for once, and not have to rope the pain in.

"It must have been terrible for you," Lady Jaye whispered, patting Marissa's back.

Marissa nodded, and then rested her head sideways on her mother's shoulder. "I didn't want to lie to you Mom. I just...I just couldn't explain what was going on. I didn't have the strength. I was so tired. I still am. Emotionally AND physically. It was so hard to see him hurt and helpless that way, but it was also hard to just move him!"

"I can't even imagine how you did it," Lady Jaye said. "That's one big body. Nice. But big."

"MOM!" Marissa said.

"What? You don't agree?" Lady Jaye said with a leer as Marissa drew back to stare at her.

"Well, yes but...!"

Lady Jaye laughed, and got the smile she wanted from Marissa. The younger woman got up to blow her nose.

"He reminds me a lot of your father - the way he acts I mean."

"Don't say it," Marissa said.

"Well he does!" Lady Jaye exclaimed.

"I know. I just don't want you to say it. OK?" Marissa said. "It makes me worry I have some kind of complex."

Lady Jaye laughed. "Just remember, you said it! I didn't!"

Marissa scowled at her, and then into the Kleenex box. "Damn! Out of tissues again!" she muttered, reaching for a paper towel. "OW! My nose hurts."

"Been going through a lot of tissues these days, huh?" Lady Jaye asked compassionately.

Marissa nodded and honked her nose again.

"How DID you move him?"

"Well," Marissa said. "I couldn't have done it if he'd been a complete vegetable. He would follow me if I led him by the hand. He just wouldn't move if I let him go."

Lady Jaye stared at her, trying to imagine what her daughter had been through, and lost in admiration for her child's strength in enduring this. She also knew, in that instant, that if this relationship could survive this mess, it could probably survive anything. She smiled to herself, but she had one more question she felt the need to ask.

"Was he...um...was he incontinent?"

"MOTHER!"

Lady Jaye shrugged.

Marissa glared at her, but finally said, "No."

"Well then how...?"

Marissa looked down, smiled, and shook her head.

"Oh come on! You can tell your old mother," Lady Jaye said. She was now dying of curiosity.

"Well, you know that picture I have hanging in the bathroom....?"

Continued in Part B


	2. Chapter 2

Maelstrom Chapter 25

Transitions B 

Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original **Maelstrom Comics** and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.

**Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored!**

Transitions - Part B

Ultra Magnus looked up at the kitchen door and scowled. He could hear the peals of feminine laughter even over the television, and knew, with absolute certainty, that HE was the subject. He turned his attention doggedly back to the game, which he had turned on so that he and Flint would have something to stare at besides each other. The long minutes of awkward silence had been pure hell for both of them - neither had the first clue of what to say.

He watched the defense lining up.

"Stupid," he muttered.

"Mistake!" Flint said under his breath at the same instant.

They looked at each other.

Magnus coughed. "Whoever thought that up is obviously incompetent. They left a hole even Grimlock could find."

"Yeah well, Cleveland's never won the Superbowl for a reason." Flint said.

"I see. What would you have done in that situation?" Magnus asked, as they watched the receiver sail unhindered to the end-zone.

It was a simple question which sparked a debate which was to become the foundation of their relationship for the rest of Flint's lifetime. Just when it was getting really good though, the doorbell beeped.

"OH SHIT! I forgot about Rodi!" Magnus said, stiffening in his seat.

"You're expecting someone?"

"Yes. We were supposed to get together today to celebrate... er.. my... en.. to your daughter. I thought they were playing jokes again this morning by showing up early when you rang."

"Ah," said Flint in a tone which told Magnus the less said about his first impression the better.

The doorbell beeped again, and Magnus stomped up to answer it. He braced himself, and thought he was prepared. He opened the door.

"HERE!" Rodimus sang, "BABY!"

"AHH!" Magnus said, nearly dropping Edana as she was thrust unexpectedly into his arms.

"MAGS!" Rodimus said. "I see Marissa left you in one piece again! Jazz and I were taking bets. I lost!"

"Err," Magnus said, painfully aware of Flint sitting bolt upright on the couch.

"Rodi," Lancer said warningly. Magnus' height afforded him a lovely view of her scowling face, and KC and Jazz's amused expressions where they stood behind her in the hall, laden with two picnic baskets.

"What my love?" Rodi said, doe-eyed and blinking. Magnus groaned.

"They have company," Lancer growled under her breath.

Rodimus peeked around Magnus' bulk and saw Flint staring at them from the couch. Rodimus had just gotten Lancer to agree to more kids though and had been practically cart-wheeling all morning. He thought he recognized Flint but wasn't about to try to concentrate on where he'd seen him. He was having too much fun.

"MARISSA!" he said to Flint. "What have you done with your hair?!" He nudged Ultra Magnus in the ribs with his elbow. "You sly dog you."

Flint's eyes widened.

Magnus ground his teeth, and balled one fist as tightly as he could - making sure the other arm didn't crush Edana. "Rodi," he growled through his clenched jaw, "I'd like to introduce you to Marissa's father."

Rodimus looked up at him, his eyes registering that information and its likely consequences with a bit of surprise. Magnus saw him consider roping himself in, and then shrug it off. Magnus groaned inwardly. Hot Rod would pick THIS morning to resurrect himself.

"Been a tough day so far for you, eh big guy?" Rodimus said with an unsympathetic grin. He soared into the living room, and the others pushed past Magnus after him - no one bothered to wait to be invited. Ooo there was going to be suffering later.

"Hello Marissa's father! I'm Rodi," Rodimus said, sticking out his hand. Flint took it and shook it in a daze, just as Marissa and Lady Jaye came out of the kitchen to investigate the noise.

In spite of everything, Magnus noticed Marissa had been crying and stiffened defensively. Marissa smiled at him and shook her head. He relaxed a little, turning his attention back to the invaders, while Lady Jaye made note of his response and reminded herself never to REALLY give him anything to be angry about. She grinned to herself, liking Magnus more by the minute.

"MARISSA!" Rodimus said gleefully. Marissa was stunned. She could tell at once he wasn't faking THIS burst of childish energy. She was so surprised she didn't even try to defend her hair from his standard greeting. Lady Jaye laughed, only to have Rodi's sparkling eyes turn on her.

"Hey hey Marissa! You didn't tell us you had a cute little sister," Rodimus said with a wink.

"Rodi," Marissa said, torn between laughing and beating him to death, "This is my mother."

Rodimus pretended to be shocked and then looked over at Flint in disgust. "Cradle robber," he said. Lady Jaye laughed again. Magnus moaned as if in pain, but had to smile a little when Edana reached for his face.

"You OK, Man?" Jazz asked seriously. Magnus met his eyes and nodded. Lancer and KC looked on in amused disgust as Rodimus continued to flirt with Marissa and Lady Jaye. He had them both in tears.

Magnus caught Flint looking at him in purest surprise.

"What?" he asked.

"I just can't believe you put up with that!" Flint said.

"I don't have any choice," Magnus intoned with disgust, shifting Edana to his other arm. She grabbed his collar and started chewing.

"Why not?" Flint said, also noting Magnus was doing nothing to defend his clothing from the baby. That collar was getting quite damp.

"I...just...don't..." Magnus said, glaring at Rodimus. Rodi saw the look, and took Marissa down in a dip. He made some remark about her running away with him, put his hand over her mouth, and kissed the back of it hard. Marissa pushed him away, stumbled, and swore at him, while Lady Jaye collapsed against the wall in hysterics. Even Flint chuckled a little, although mostly at his wife. Magnus glowered.

"Here, Magnus," Lancer said, reaching for Edana. She wanted to rescue his shirt.

Magnus didn't care about that though. "She's OK," he said, and Lancer smiled, remembering when he'd been afraid to touch Edana, even as a human. "What's the matter with Rodi, though?"

Lancer sighed, smiled, and sat down on the back of the couch. "I finally agreed to try for another baby. He hasn't slowed down since."

"Ah," Magnus said, "Congratulations."

"Congratulate me when he settles down," Lancer said dryly.

"When that happens," Magnus rumbled, "I will congratulate myself. And to think I was thinking I missed this kind of behavior from him! I must have been out of my mind."

"Yes, well. We're all just glad to have you back in it," Lancer said, patting his hand. She moved off to watch her mate make an ass of himself.

Magnus felt a faint tug at his collar. He smiled down at Edana again. She seemed in pure bliss to be gnawing on his shirt. Then Marissa's earlier words came back to him. Children? Well... maybe..

Flint watched the mad house his daughter's quarter's had become in amazement. He couldn't decide what surprised him the most - the black man with electric blue eyes flirting desperately with the EDC cadet as they fussed with the picnic baskets (not shocking in itself but they seemed so oblivious to the rest of the cacophony), a baby with sunglasses, a blonde who walked too much like Snake-Eyes for his comfort, the red-headed lunatic, or the fact that both Marissa AND Magnus seemed to accept it all as normal! He felt something building in his chest which needed release.

"MARISSA WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!" he roared. Silence fell with a crash.

"Uh..well, KC over there is Perceptor's aide, and...and.." Marissa faltered. She didn't know how to continue.

Everyone looked at Rodi.

"They know about Magnus?" Rodi asked Marissa.

She nodded.

He looked thoughtful for a second. "What the heck. I know they had clearance. You can tell them our names. That's it."

"Thanks Rodimus!" Marissa said.

"RODIMUS?" Lady Jaye shrieked at Marissa. "THIS IS AN AUTOBOT TOO?!"

At the same instant Flint yelled at Magnus, "RODIMUS?! THIS... THIS GOOF IS ONE OF YOUR SUPERIORS?!"

"This goof is one of my superiors," Magnus agreed with resignation. His tone suggested that at that moment, he didn't understand it either.

"My condolences," Flint said.

"Thanks," Magnus answered. Their friendship was sealed.

Marissa went around the room, explaining Lancer (in spite of the name) wasn't an Autobot but that Jazz was.

"Why is he black?" Lady Jaye wanted to know.

"Why aren't the others black?" Marissa shrugged, "Maybe because he wants to be, or see himself that way. We really don't know how a lot of this happens, and some of it may come from how they see themselves."

"Ah," Lady Jaye said sagely, obviously out of her depth.

"And this," Marissa finished, taking the baby out of Magnus' reluctant arms, "is Edana." She put the little girl in her Lady Jaye's hands. Edana smiled, and the resemblance to Rodi' s silly grin was unmistakable, for all that Edana only had one tooth.

Lady Jaye looked from Rodi, to the baby, and back again. Rodi looked only too delighted with himself. Lady Jaye smiled at Edana. "Well aren't you something," she said, lifting her high.

The Fairbornes ended up going on the picnic with everyone, and went home feeling very tired, but better about Marissa. She seemed happy, and the way she and Magnus had been taunting each other by the end of the day assured Lady Jaye she'd be seeing grandkids soon enough.

X

X

X

It had been an interesting affair, this picnic, right from the very beginning. It looked to Lady Jaye like there was already enough food for ten, but Marissa and KC looked at each other and headed for the kitchen the instant the Fairbornes nervously agreed to go along. They came back out with an entire grocery bag full of odds and ends.

Lancer had raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Do you think that will cover it? Mr. Energon over there can go get more."

"You aren't seriously gonna let the anorexic go after food, now Lancer! That's like sendin' Grimlock to pick out china! I'll go!" Jazz offered helpfully.

"Which would be like sending an alcoholic to buy booze," KC said dryly.

"I can go," Magnus said.

"Magnus, that would be dumber than sending Jazz," Marissa said. "This will be enough."

"But..." Magnus started. "OW!"

Flint's eyes widened. He had never seen or even dreamed of his little girl pinching a grown man on the ass.

"It will be enough," Marissa repeated in a tone that said if it wasn't enough there was going to be suffering. She fixed her baleful glare on Magnus AND Jazz to drive the point home. Magnus shrugged. Jazz pouted.

Rodimus laughed, and made some risky remarks about never knowing that all Magnus needed to behave was a pinch on the ass, and that he would have to try it himself the next time they were on a mission. Magnus immediately went to lunge after Rodimus and then caught sight of Marissa's wide-eyed parents. He controlled himself, although the effort made him quake. As feared, Rodimus made note of his reluctance to explode in front of her parents and declared it open season.

Fortunately, both Flint and Lady Jaye were sensitive enough to understand both Magnus' irritation and his unwillingness to make a scene while they were there. That was the only reason they didn't suspect he suffered from seizures though. By the end of the day, Flint was entirely impressed by Magnus' self-control - he was nearly ready to go after the Autobot Commander himself.

If Rodimus hadn't been the one to shift to robot form to drive them to the picnic site, they might not have believed he was who he claimed to be.

"He not usually like this," Lancer had said, as she, the baby, and the elder Fairborne's took the front seat. The others got to enjoy the lovely, closed in sensation of riding in the trailer. (Marissa and Magnus tried to take advantage of the relative privacy - at least until Rodimus made some untactful remarks about them "necking in his back seat." Jazz and KC then decided to take vengeance by rearranging everything they could move during the ten minute drive. Rodimus retaliated by being sure the trailer section hit every bump he could safely manage.)

"Oh really?" Lady Jaye asked Lancer skeptically.

"OK. Well, he is, but he's not usually this bad," Lancer confessed.

"Uh-huh," Flint said, as Rodi steered towards another piece of debris in the road. He somehow managed to miss it with the cab-section, but the trailer bounced. "Then why do I get the feeling he's had practice with this?" They could hear the aggravated laughter from the trailer section.

"Rodimus you pain in the ass!" Marissa cried, laughing.

"Watch out Man! KC's going to be sick!" Jazz warned.

"Jazz! Damnit! Don't tell him! Let her get sick all over him! He deserves it." Magnus growled.

"Thanks.. a lot Major General," KC gasped. Interestingly enough, the ride miraculously improved.

"Major General?" Lady Jaye asked, innocently enough.

Lancer opened her mouth, grimaced, and shook her head.

"What?"

Lancer shook her head, looking at once amused and in pain. "No...Really. I can't."

"Really?"

"Really."

"OK. I'll get it out of Marissa later," Lady Jaye said with confidence.

"Fine! Whatever. I'm just not going to be the one to spill this one. There ARE limits." Lancer said.

This time the entire "truck" shook for no apparent reason. Fortunately for both KC's appetite, and Rodi's interior, they had nearly arrived.

"Why are we stopping?" Flint asked, looking around. They were at an intersection with buildings surrounding the entire area. It didn't look like a picnic-ground to him.

"We're here!" Rodi sang, opening his trailer and both front doors. Everyone scrambled out quickly before his shimmering turned into a body-tossing shake. KC reeled a bit, and looked grey. Jazz made a big fuss over her, and threw his unrepentant leader an evil look as Rodi transformed.

"Here?" Lady Jaye asked incredulously.

"NONONO!" Rodi laughed, shifting to human form as he did. "THERE!" He pointed straight up. They followed his finger, but remained unenlightened.

"Mom, the best place to enjoy the scenery on Cybertron is the rooftops," Marissa explained.

"Oh. How will we get up there?" Flint asked. It looked like about four miles to the top of the building they stood at.

"Well," Rodimus said in a very serious voice. "Here on Cybertron we have very advanced technology called 'elevators' which will take up right to where we want to be." Lancer hit him.

He behaved pretty well during the ride to the top (which actually did impress Flint with its incredible speed, and the fact it helped them adjust to the pressure changes.) Rodi's relative calm may have been due to the fact Lancer burdened him with the baby, or it might have been because of the restraining hand she had on his shoulder. Lady Jaye couldn't be sure, but she had a distinct feeling Lancer's fingers weren't curled nails-in for nothing.

When they got to the summit, Flint and Lady Jaye had to admit their skepticism about the LOCATION of this pass-time had been unfounded. Marissa smiled. It wasn't often she could impress her parents this way. They both had their mouths hanging open at the unbelievable view they could see uninhibited all the way around. This building was the tallest in the region, which was one of the first to have undergone reconstruction after the Decepticon occupation. It was practically the only place on Cybertron you could see horizon to horizon without encountering the scars of combat. It was quite possibly the most awe-inspiring view on the planet, and Marissa was pleased to see the awe had been inspired.

KC was looking better with the free air, and the others apparently caught some of Rodi's energy and they had the blankets spread and everything out and arranged in record time while Marissa and her parents took in the view together. She had one arm around her mother's waist, and Flint's hand in the other.

"This is beautiful darling," Lady Jaye said quietly. Marissa rested her head on her mother's shoulder and nodded. When they turned around lunch was out and arranged and every pair of eyes was on the three of them with varying degrees of proud, silly smiles on every face. They sat in a semi-circle. KC started the near end, then Jazz, Rodi, Lancer, the baby in her little seat, and finally Magnus, with a space in between for Marissa and her parents. Marissa sat next to Magnus, and Flint sat next to her. Lady Jaye was glad to be next to the young EDC member - KC seemed the most safe of the bunch.

The spread was even more enormous than Lady Jaye had feared. There was fried chicken - one whole bird plain, and another barbecued. Two pounds of potato salad. Two pounds of Cole slaw. Two pounds of macaroni salad. Three foot-long, hard rolls of garlic bread kept hot by some mysterious means. Similarly hot baked beans (why did Marissa have to hand all the hot things to Lancer to be opened, and why did she seem to feel the need to hold them a minute first?) Three 12 inch sub sandwiches - one for Jazz, another for Magnus, and one for Lancer who politely offered some of hers to the Fairbornes who declined with amazement. Not to mention the bags of pretzels, chips, and cheese puffs raided from Marissa's cupboards. Corn. Mashed potatoes...with GRAVY! Jars of olives. Pizza. Fruit salad. Watermelon. Pudding. Jello. An entire bunch of bananas. Grapes. Donuts. Pie. Brownies. Wine. Soda. An entire cake. A bouquet of flowers....and candles.

Flint looked in amazement from the vast quantity of food to the two picnic baskets and shook his head in confusion. "How...?" he asked, and then trailed off. He felt silly asking, but it just didn't seem possible they had gotten all of this, plus the blankets, plates, glasses, and silverware out of two baskets.

"Subspace links, General Fairborne," Magnus said with a faint smile, "These baskets were designed to accomidate the appetites of this group."

Lady Jaye and Flint looked at each other and decided not to press the issue, although they couldn't imagine all of this food being needed....at least until Magnus, Jazz, and Lancer got started. After that Lady Jaye began to understand why Marissa and KC were looking at the meal a little skeptically - as if they didn't think it would go far enough. Marissa and KC both had healthy appetites, and no one was too surprised Magnus' massive form took some feeding, but even allowing for that he ate a lot. Lancer and Jazz that surprised her though, since neither looked like they should need to eat like they did. However, it was Rodi's eating habits which surprised Lady Jaye and Flint the most, and left them wondering what powered his constant motion.

"Eat!" Lancer ordered.

"I'm having fruit salad."

"Two pieces of cantaloupe DO NOT constitute having a fruit salad! Eat, before I embarrass you in front of visitors even more than you've already managed on your own!"

"Here Rodimus," KC said with a vengeful smile. "Have some barbecued chicken." She waved a half-eaten, sauce covered leg inched from his nose. The skin hung from the piece where her tooth marks rent the flesh down to the bone. Rodimus stared at the moving hunk of poultry corpse and grew pale. KC snickered. Make HER car-sick would he?

"You deserve worse, Prime Sir, but I can't manage that....right now." KC said, with a grin. Jazz looked proud and cooed over her ability to be disgusting. For once KC accepted his compliments without dissenting.

Lady Jaye's attention was NOT on this display of dubious manners, but on her daughter's fiancé. He was ignoring his leader's antics with practiced ease, and was busy flirting with a gorgeous red-head OTHER than her daughter. Lady Jaye was hard pressed to keep a straight face watching Magnus let Edana gum syrup from the fruit salad off his fingers on the sly. He apparently thought (not illogically) that all eyes would be on the show Rodimus was making of himself as he made disgusted faces and expounded on the evils of human food. Marissa noticed her mother's focus and winked at her, well aware of what Magnus was up to. Somehow the fact that they both were on to him without his realizing made it harder not to laugh at him, and when Lancer looked slyly out of the corner of her eye at Marissa and then covertly pointed to Magnus and her daughter all three women lost it. Fortunately, they had KC's further assaults on Rodi with the scraggly chicken leg as an excuse. He cowered away melodramatically - like an old-time movie vampire before a cross. By this point even Flint was laughing, although perhaps it was simply because he didn't know how else to respond.

There was one tense moment when Rodi's communicator beeped for his attention. Silence fell immediately, and Flint and Lady Jaye were struck by how every person around the blanket poised to move. It wasn't fear or anxiety, but they had been in similar situations themselves enough times to recognize the subtle gathering of muscles for immediate response should it prove necessary. Rodimus was up and away from them in one fluid motion - all trace of boyishness gone - he moved to the edge of the rooftop and stood with his back to them, listening to whatever was being said. Most of the group watch him intently, although Magnus, for some reason, opted to watch Lancer. She relaxed a few seconds into Rodi's hushed conversation, and Magnus took that as a cue to snatch up the last piece of barbecued chicken.

"Just don't give her any of the sauce," Lancer whispered to him, leaning close and indicating the baby. Edana was watching him expectantly.

Magnus met Lancer's amused eyes and made a disgusted face. He should have guessed she was aware of what he was doing. "She likes almost everything," he said by way of explanation.

"I know. It's OK you've been feeding her. I just don't want her to have the sauce - I'm afraid it will upset her stomach."

"Oh."

"Oh. She'd be up for days, and Magnus, I'm tired enough already! Her father won't let me sleep!" Lancer said, with a conspirital wink.

"You two seem awfully unconcerned," Flint said - his tone held part question, part accusation. He had liked the way every had responded - it had been the first real indication that in spite of the off-duty hysteria that he was actually dealing with professionals. That Lancer and Magnus should relax before knowing what was happening rather bothered him.

"That's because it's fine Flint," Lancer said with a lop-sided smile.

The rest of the group looked at Lancer, at Magnus eating away, and then at each other. Jazz shrugged and scraped out the remains of the potato salad. KC and Marissa looked disgusted with themselves, and Marissa threw her mate a glare for not reminding her who to watch.

"How...? How do you know it's alright?" Lady Jaye asked.

"Umm..body language. I can tell from the way he's standing," Lancer said with a grin. "He is my mate after all."

Flint looked curiously at Rodi's stiff back and then shrugged. Lady Jaye cocked a suspicious eyebrow, but decided not to press. Rodimus walked quietly back over (Good Grief! He walks like Snake-Eyes too! When he's not skipping that is!) and flopped on the ground. He put his head in Lancer's lap and grinned up at her.

"Comfy?" she asked.

"Oh, very!" He responded. She placed her hand over his face and make a weird sucking noise, but didn't make him move.

"Everything's all right, Sir?" KC asked.

"Well except for the fact that you're calling me SIR again everything is fine. Op is still trying to make up work from his little holiday at the conferences and he had some questions, that's all. Lancer, my love, you have barbecue sauce all over your chin. It's terribly sexy."

"Op?" Flint asked. "As in Optimus Prime?" He had been feeling better about Rodi's competence for a minute there, but the feeling was rapidly fading as the young man reached up to wipe the sauce off of Lancer's face, but ended up playing with her lips and smashing her cheeks around. Lancer endured this with a kind of amused resignation which told them she was somewhat used to this kind of treatment. He squished her lips forward.

"Say rubber baby buggy bumpers!" Rodi ordered.

"No." Lancer said as clearly as she could, although she made no move to extract herself from Rodi's grasp.

"Oh please!" Rodimus pleaded.

"No. I will not say rubber baby buggy bumpers!" Lancer said, her eyes twinkling.

"WHEE-HEE! You said it!"

"Right, now let go of my face before I decide I have too many children already,' Lancer said.

"OK!" Rodi said, apparently content she said it at all. He made a big show of getting comfortable in her lap. She sighed.

This exchange had KC shaking her head in denial, but laughing helplessly. Jazz had tears in his eyes. Marissa and Lady Jaye laughed, and even Magnus rolled his eyes, looked long-suffering, and chuckled a little. Flint felt cold fear in the pit of his stomach - THIS guy was in charge of an entire army of huge, devastating, sapient war-machines?! Flint tried to calm himself down - he could see no one was too concerned about this, and he knew Marissa was no fool to trust a complete idiot with her life, but STILL! He also knew Rodimus had been in command for some time, and the Earth hadn't been demolished... yet... but STILL! He looked down at the glass of rather expensive wine he had been sipping at and downed it without a second thought. His wife's eyes widened a little at that.

Magnus and Marissa applauded Lancer's remark about the children. Rodimus stuck his tongue out at both of them. KC hid her face in embarrassment against Jazz's shoulder. He looked quite thunderstruck. Flint poured himself another glass of wine. He had it half way to his mouth when Rodimus craned his neck around to look at Ultra Magnus without sitting up.

"Hey Mags!"

Magnus looked a little startled, and guiltily tried to hide the fact that Edana was cheerfully gumming the last tastes of his potato salad.

"What?" The word snapped out like a whip.

"Do you realize, that when you marry Marissa, that Flint will be your FATHER-IN-LAW?" Flint spat wine about a yard while Magnus looked at his commander without one trace of comprehension. Marissa began giggling helplessly - she sounded faintly distressed - as if she wanted to stop but couldn't. Flint and Magnus both glared at her, just as they had that morning - in unison, and with identical sour expressions. Lady Jaye joined her daughter on a repeat performance of the mornings hysterics.

Rodi grinned the devil's own smile and continued to needle Magnus. "I mean. What are you going to call him? Dad? Pops? Pappy? You guys need to talk about these things. They're important!"

Lancer cocked her head and studied her mate carefully. "You're insufferable. And to think there were times I was actually sorry not to have known you as Hot Rod. I should learn to be careful what I wish for!"

"You should learn to be careful what you let HIM wish for, you mean!" KC said. "It's your fault for agreeing to more kids." Jazz nodded faintly, but said nothing. He had been speechless since the instant KC had begun leaning on him.

"Even Hot Rod was never this bad. He at least respected the fact I would make him suffer if he screwed up too much. I think Rodimus has begun abusing his position," Magnus growled, finding complaining about his leader a much more familiar and safe topic than the concept of having a father (in-law or otherwise) or the concept of being a son (in-law or otherwise.)

"Oh! You're just jealous I'm going to have another kid!" Rodimus said.

"Really?" said Lancer, "When are you due?"

Rodimus stuck his tongue out at her, "You know what I mean! And don't try to deny it either! I've seen you leading my daughter on over there, but she's mine, not yours, and you are jealous."  
"You're delusional," Magnus said matter-of factly.

"Besides," Marissa said (pleased for an opportunity to tease both Rodi AND Magnus) "how do you know we AREN'T planning on having kids?"

Rodimus laughed at her tone. Magnus' eyes dilated with pure shock. Children?!

The teasing and the meal went on until there wasn't a scrap of anything to take home. Lady Jaye had spent a while trying to get KC to talk to her a little, but the girl seemed a bit over-awed at meeting two of the founders of EDC, and was much shier towards the Fairbornes then she was towards any of the others - even Magnus. Finally they re-invaded Marissa's quarters, cleaned up in record time, and sent the tired, dizzy Fairbornes on their way. Marissa's parents went home feeling a little delirious over everything they'd seen and heard, but at least Marissa seemed very comfortable and happy. 

X

X

X

"Oh thank God this day is finally over with!" Marissa said, shutting her door after her parents.

"It's over with?" Rodimus asked. "Magnus will be so disappointed!"

"I HEARD THAT!" Magnus roared from the kitchen. He was helping Lancer put the few remaining leftovers into the frig (and was reducing their numbers significantly as he did so.)

"You were meant to!" Rodimus laughed. A full, busy day had done nothing to dampen his energy.

"You are out of control man," Jazz said from where he was flopped on the couch. Even he was worn out and ready to smack Rodimus into next week.

In the kitchen Lancer looked up at Magnus from where she was rearranging the bottom shelf of Marissa's frig. The City Commander was standing stock straight, and he was trembling in an effort to restrain himself. She could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. "You've kept a lid on it all day, Magnus, but her parents are gone, and you have my full and enthusiastic permission to kill him."

Magnus grinned down at her but didn't answer other than to head for the living room.

"HAH! Got ya!" Rodimus said in delight when he saw Magnus coming at him....at least until he realized Magnus was actually closing the distance pretty fast.

"OHSHIT!" Rodimus said with a giggle. He tried ducking behind KC who promptly sat down and smacked him one herself. "AH! FRANKENSTEIN!" Rodi yelled.

"STAY OFF MY COUCH YOU INGRATE!" Marissa bellowed.

"LANCER HELP!" Rodimus cried in feigned desperation, dancing around Magnus and deftly dodging the few swipes the City Commander took at him. Magnus grinned with evil patience, letting Rodi playfully cut it closer and closer, and knowing he would catch him eventually.

"Help?" Lancer asked from the doorway. "Sure! Magnus is there anything I can do for you?"

"No Lancer, but thanks so much for asking."

"Anytime Ultra Magnus. Anytime." She smiled brightly at Rodi who gave her a disgusted glare.

"Traitor," he said.

Lancer sent him pure sex. Taken completely off guard he lost a few critical seconds.... and felt a huge upheaval turn the world around.

"AHHH!" he cried.

Lancer leapt in delight, and crowed, "YES! One time pays for all!"

The room broke into spontaneous applause. Magnus had him by the ankles and was swinging him none too gently back and forth. With the City Commander's arms over his head, Rodi's fingertips cleared the floor by several inches.

"AHHH! Mutiny!" Rodi cried. Twisting to free himself proved to be a joke.

Jazz hooted. KC and Marissa laughed and clapped thunderously. Lancer whistled and yelled obscene cat-calls.

Rodi fought to put his chin to his chest to get a look at his captor. Magnus didn't smile as he looked down at his commander for all that Rodi looked ridiculous with his hair hanging down and the blood flooding his face. The City Commander put on the infamous expression which led others to believe he was incapable of smiling at all.

Rodi snickered.

*THUD*

"Ow! My head!" Rodimus clutched the top of his skull. "You're not very nice," he told Magnus. He snickered again.

*THUD*

"OOW! Uhh! MAGNUS!" Rodi cried indignantly.

The others were all howling, with Lancer well in the lead and his contortions to glare at them did nothing to slow them down.

Magnus still didn't smile. He tapped Rodi's head lightly on the floor to get his attention.

"ow."

"Now you listen to me Rodimus Prime," Magnus growled.

"I'm in trouble!" Rodi said in apparent delight. "OW!"

Magnus waited a second to see if Rodi planned on listening quietly this time, and then continued. "You," rap, "ARE," rap "going," rap, "to," rap, "BEHAVE YOURSELF!"

"owowowow! But Ultra Magnus! I AM behaving like myself! OOWWW! Hey, cut it out!" Rodimus grasped his abused skull again, but somehow still managed to be giggling a little. This time his fingers took the brunt of the impact when Magnus drove him down.

"OW! OK! That's the last straw! Hey Mags? Are you ticklish?" Rodimus asked, reaching around for the back of Magnus' knees. Magnus yelped, and then vengefully dropped his 6'1" burden straight to the floor.

"Oww," Rodimus said again. Then he grinned. "Hey everyone, the Major General is ticklish!"

Magnus looked disgusted, knowing this news would cause him suffering later. Then help arrived.

"So what?" Lancer said dryly. "So are you, my love."

Rodimus scrambled to his feet, the very picture of righteous indignation. "I can't believe you told them that!"

"Ah, but I did. The best part is you're ticklish EVERYWHERE." Lancer said with a distinct purr.

"Why you oo hoO! Hey! KC! Hands off!" Rodi cried. Unfortunately, sidling away from KC put him where a vengeful Marissa could reach him.

"AH HA hA! Marissa! That's getting a little personal don't you think?" Rodi said. He was starting to sound nervous.

"No." Marissa said. "Lancer doesn't mind."

"Not at all," Lancer said. She smiled down at Edana. The baby was sound asleep as she had been for the last hour. All of this ruckus was apparently of little consequence to the infant. She even slept through it when Magnus pinned Rodi's arms from behind and called for free shots.

"You should be thanking me you know!" Rodimus said testily to Magnus when they finally let him collapse to the floor for a breather.

"OH. Why is that? For making a complete idiot of yourself in front of two high-ranking human officers who just also happen to be my future i..in-laws?" Magnus said. He only stammered a little over the last word. Marissa was proud of him.

"Yes! That's it exactly!" Rodimus said with conviction.

Magnus stared at him a moment.

"Your logic, if it can be called that, escapes me. For what exactly should I be thanking you? For making me look like a fool for following you?"

"NO! For making you look fantastic by comparison you dope! You know what they're saying right now don't you? They're saying, "Well, Marissa's marrying an Autobot, but at least she's not marrying THAT Autobot!" By this point, they're so relieved it's you instead of me, they aren't even going to worry about little things like your age, your total lack of humor, or the fact you aren't even constructed out of the same substance as Marissa half the time!"

"True. Thank you so much. Now get out." Magnus said, herding everyone towards the door once again.

X

X

X

Optimus Prime returned to his huge backlog of work with something akin to ecstasy. Trade agreements, rights of passage, systems of exchange, fueling needs, etc. etc. fluttered around his head like wounded vultures. It was all very necessary. Cybertron couldn't function smoothly in any capacity if their neighbors refused to let ships through, or if they insisted on huge fees for fueling privileges "as insurance against Decepticon attack". The worst part was, the Decepticons weren't even Op's primary concern anymore, but he couldn't TELL them that! There was also the very real suspicion that they didn't really care about the Decepticons - all of these systems had formidable defenses - one of the reasons Megatron/Galvatron had always been so obsessed with Earth. No. They weren't really worried - they were just milking Cybertron for all they could get.

In accordance with that aim, each system would set strict guidelines about what could pass that clashed directly with the similarly strict rules of their neighbors, with each of them demanding "special fees" to "allow exceptions".

Spike, Elita, and Optimus had bartered, cajoled, compromised, and even strong-armed their way towards an agreement they all could live with, come home tired, but triumphant....only to have "an oversight" bring it all down like a house of cards. They had to go all the way back and start over.

Elita dealt like she had been designed for this kind of thing...Optimus didn't know how he'd ever managed without her. She could charm the most belligerent envoy - without giving one inch on what she was insisting on. She often saw the pitfalls in what others were offering her right away, something Optimus was profoundly amazed and grateful for. Give him a battlefield to study any day - these hidden daggers made him nervous, and it always took hours of quiet, concentrate analysis for him to see the traps he could sign his planet into.

Spike also managed well, but Optimus could see he loathed every minute of it. Not surprising. Spike might wear an ambassador's uniform now, but he would always be a mechanic's son.

And as for himself...Optimus snorted. If this pact didn't hold his neighbors wouldn't need to worry about the DECEPTICONS anymore....he would declare war and obliterate them all himself. Through it all they had also had to cope with worrying about Ultra Magnus and not having much news to assuage their fears. Rodimus had sent one brief, prearranged signal to Optimus, hardly more than a single tone, that told the elder Prime their friend had woken up. Returning home, they learned he was awake and coherent, but not much more than that. Well, Rodimus was due in for a conference in a little while, and Optimus knew he would get the whole story then.

Optimus looked at the work he had to tackle. There was a lot of it, but not nearly as much as he'd feared. Rodimus and Jazz must have been granted supernatural powers to handle as much as they had. Optimus smiled a little, who would have ever thought that Hot Rod.....

"HEY-YA OPPY!"

Optimus yelled in surprise at finding Rodi's grinning face only inches from his own. Oh how he hated it when his partner snuck up on him! He didn't feel any better about things when Rodi grabbed both sides of his head by the antenna and pulled him forward.

"HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU!"

"Rodimus...?" Were the Conversion scanners working...?

"GUESS WHAT!?" Rodi yelled.

"Your vocal controls blew out?" Optimus suggested.

"NONONONO! GUESS AGAIN!"

"You've finally cracked under all the pressure?"

"NO! ULTRA MAGNUS AND MARISSA ARE GETTING MARRIED!"

"WHAT?!" Not possible. Simply not possible.  
Continued in Part C


	3. Chapter 3

Maelstrom Chapter 25

Transitions C 

Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original **Maelstrom Comics** and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.

**Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored!**

Transitions - Part C

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Elita said. Optimus yelped again. He hated it when his mate snuck up on him like that.

"WHAT! WHAT WAS THAT ELITA?!" he shouted.

"That's wonderful! I take it he's OK then?" Elita said. Rodi nodded vigorously.

"NO HE'S NOT OK! HE'S OBVIOUSLY LOST HIS MIND! HE CAN'T MARRY MARISSA!" Optimus roared.

"Why not?" Elita asked, sitting casually on the edge of his desk.

"BECAUSE! Because....!" Optimus trailed off, uncertain how to finish, and hating both Rodi and Elita for their sardonically rapt attention. They stared at him seriously, as if waiting to hear his sage wisdom, and knowing full well he had nothing to say. They let him stew a minute, and then laughed. Elita put one slim hand in the air and Rodi high-fived it with a flourish. Optimus didn't know what was worse, Rodi's roaring laughter, or Elita's gentle, but continuous chuckle.

"Oh, fine. You know you have me, don't rub it in!" Optimus muttered. Elita rubbed the top of his head affectionately.

"It's a good thing Orion," she said.

"I know. It's just a shock." He looked at his partner. Rodimus was standing quietly while he observed this little exchange, but he was NOT standing still. He was nearly bouncing in place, behavior Optimus had no classification for. He decided to stick to the subject at hand.

"Is Magnus ready to return to duty?"

"NOPE," Rodi said, making it sound like it wasn't a word, but a small explosive hiccup.

"Why not?" Optimus said, once again refusing to address his partner's odd behavior. Maybe if he could ignore it, it would just go away.

"HE'S TRAINING WITH LANCER. SHE'S GOING TO HELP HIM GET OVER IT."

Optimus froze in his seat for an instant, having a brief and terrifying vision of ULTRA MAGNUS sneaking up on him. He shook it off. Wasn't possible. Wouldn't happen. Married?! Oh boy.

"SHE'S going to help him get over it?" Elita asked gently. "It might work better if she got over it herself first." She put her hand on Rodi's arm to soften what she'd said. She could nearly feel the energy vibrating through him when she touched his arm. He gave her the biggest grin she'd ever seen and the bouncing intensified. "Oh my. You're really happy aren't you? Does this mean she did get over it?"

"YUP," Rodi said. Another weird little hiccup.

"Rodi I'm so happy for you!" Elita said, spontaneously hugging him. He laughed, and picked her up, twirling her around Prime's office. Optimus stared in amazement. He was asleep. That was it. He was dreaming.

"GUESS WHAT!" Rodimus yelled again, putting Elita down and leaving her dizzy.

"What?" she laughed. Optimus was still staring. He seemed to be doing calculations on his fingers.

They both stopped to stare at him. "I'm just trying to figure out when I lost all control over my life. Don't mind me," Optimus said.

"I'M HAVING ANOTHER KID!" Rodimus yelled, obviously unable to hold it in one second longer. His vocalizers must have nearly blown at that one.

Optimus and Elita looked at him and then each other. Optimus grinned, delighted to spot an opening for once.

"Does Lancer know?"

Rodimus stood stock still. "OF COURSE LANCER KNOWS....and...Hey Op! That was a good one!"

"Is this the reason you are bouncing around my office like that?" Optimus said. He felt much better now that Rodi's behavior had a clear and understandable cause.

"YUP!"

"I see. Very good..."

"That and Magnus getting hitched, and then they'll have kids, and we'll have more kids, and maybe Jazz and KC will finally quite playing coy and then they'll have kids! There will be kids everywhere! It'll be great!"

This vision had both Optimus AND Elita stunned for a good while.

"Paperwork. Paperwork is good," Optimus muttered.

"Optimus you're insane, did you know that?" Rodi asked.

Elita laughed, and then pushed Rodi gently, but unavoidably into his seat.

They actually did get some work done after that.

X

X

X

Jazz was in his element. He had a thousand things to do, and no doubts at all that he would do them...and with STYLE no less. He made his rounds checking sensor readings and checking up on various people. As he went he took care of something a little more enjoyable - party planning. He knew he had to hurry because he and Rodimus were scheduled to go down to Vector Sigma in the next day or so (things were still a little behind from all the absenteeism lately so Rodi could no longer say for sure when they were leaving) and the trip would last at least two days. The two of them were going down to give the Super computer updated orders and new connections to the sensor net. Jazz wondered briefly if Rodi's current euphoria would let him lighten up a little on "the Fuckingshit", but then shook his head. It wasn't likely. Jazz had gotten over a tiny bit of his own anger at his creator, mostly because it was unlike him to hold on to that kind of rage. It was like an alien thing in his soul, as uncomfortable in its own way as Unicron's mind-touch had been. Rodimus on the other hand, nurtured his anger very carefully.

Best not to dwell on that. Far better to consider the M & M's getting married, and Lancer's recovery. Jazz grinned to himself. He had contacted the Maelstrom that morning and told them the news. As he expected, Lancer hadn't thought to tell them herself, so he had made them promise not to spoil the surprise if she did later. They had greeted the news with the same disbelief and then happiness most of the Autobots who were cleared to know of Magnus' engagement did. Jazz was getting used to having people gawk at him, say something equivalent to "NO WAY! REALLY?!" and then laughing in delight or amazement. Arcee and Springer had been floored. Blurr hit a wall, not all that unusual, but when he got up, he failed to correct properly and hit it again. Carly had cried, which worried Jazz until she tearfully explained she was happy for Marissa.

Lancer's friends had had similar responses...or at least her human ones did. Pagan did something to her face which might have been a smile, but he couldn't be sure with all the teeth. Talon was the most vocally enthusiastic, but Robert had laughed, and Malice had smiled, very quietly, to herself. They had readily agreed to finding a plausible excuse to visit Cybertron, and he expected them to arrive while he was still down with Vector Sigma. He wanted to have everything arranged so that the party could commence as soon as he and Rodimus got back. It never did to put anything off anymore if you wanted to have fun. Circumstances had a way of of killing the party spirit, especially recently.

He spent the day dividing his time between planning and acquiring what Rodimus, Optimus and Perceptor needed for their various duties, and planning and acquiring what he needed for the bash. Whenever possible, he made the two functions overlap.

There was only one thing which didn't go exactly as he foresaw. Inviting Kup.

Jazz knew, as did everyone else, that Kup was far from Lancer's number one fan, so Jazz didn't even bother to tell him about her change of heart. However Jazz had never dreamed Kup wasn't fond of Marissa - they had always been relaxed and friendly with each other - Jazz thought they were friends. Jazz himself thought the up-coming marriage was all to the good. Both of the M & M's had been alone far to long, and it was nice to see them both happy. Not just content. Not just satisfied with their stations. Happy. Kup apparently felt differently.

" OF ALL THE FRIED CIRCUIT FOOLISHNESS! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!" the old veteran had shrieked hysterically.

Jazz was confused. How could it be the last straw? He'd only said one sentence.

"HOW CAN YOU STILL PRETEND THIS IS NOTHING? HOW CAN YOU STAND THERE AND SMILE ABOUT IT!?"

"Because I'm glad, Man. I smile when I'm glad. This is totally outrageous news! Why're you blowin your cool?"

"GLAD? CAN'T YOU SEE!? IT'S JUST ANOTHER PART OF HER TAKE-OVER!"

"Marissa's? Well, she HAS taken over SOME things but Mags never had any sense of style...."

"NOT MARISSA! LANCER!"

Lancer? "Now who said anythin' about Lancer, Man? She'll be there but that's not why we're..."

"It's hopeless!" Kup said sadly. "You're as deluded as the rest of them."

"DELUDED? Yours Truly? Looky here you jealous old geezer. You may not like Lancer but that's no way no how an excuse to be a drag about Mags and Marissa gettin' hitched! They're both your friends and you OWE them that much respect and consideration!"

Kup glared at him, and stormed off, transforming and skidding away before Jazz could continue. The Specialist briefly entertained the thought of chasing after him, knowing he could catch up with Kup easily, but he didn't have time and didn't think it would help. The Specialist wanted to say more though - he thought Kup was doing Lancer an injustice, but even more he felt that Kup was doing Rodimus an injustice. Jazz was still unclear about how Kup's dislike of Lancer figured in on Magnus' wedding, but decided that HE owed it to them all to throw one hell of a celebration, not to hunt down some old rust bucket with a complex. 

X

X

X

Kup raced back to his office in a red haze of fury. His engine whined with the strain he was putting on it, and he only vaguely heard the curses of people he nearly ran over. When he got to his office he was through the door almost before it opened but the pain he felt when he grazed his side against it barely reached his consciousness. Another friend lost. He couldn't bear the pain of it, the incredible sense of loneliness that overwhelmed him each time his attempts to show the others what was happening were rebuffed. How had it happened? By what means did one woman fog the brilliant minds of all his friends?

And now she had somehow managed to ensnare Ultra Magnus into the addicting world of human sensation using Marissa as bait! Jazz was falling prey to it as well, Kup could see, but he hadn't fallen as hard as Magnus. He wasn't bound yet, but Magnus! Not just mated, but soon to be MARRIED! And Jazz going around announcing it as if it was natural! As if it was good, rather than a perversion of everything Magnus was! Autobots weren't meant to feel such things...they weren't made to handle such extremes of pleasure and pain. As for Marissa, well, if she was guilty of anything it was being deluded like the rest of them. Kup was sure she didn't MEAN any harm: she was just at the mercy of the passions which were instinctive to her kind. She didn't realize what harm her uncontrollable lust would do to Magnus....all because LANCER had told her it would all be fine.

Kup whirled frantically around his office. PROOF! That was the problem. He could never find any proof! The sly devious bitch covered her tracks well. Besides, how did you prove someone was telepathic when they claimed they weren't. Just because she CLAIMED she could only hear Hot Ro... Rodimus didn't mean she wasn't influencing Marissa and the others to seduce those who risked humanity. And that business about Unicron! What nonsense! As if the Matrix would have let him escape the first time! It was her again! She had driven Magnus to retreat inside himself, but it was a battle the City Commander was bound to lose. Now he didn't even remember who the real foe had been....

The Security Chief trembled with frustration. He still didn't know what Lancer's objectives were, but he knew she was using her influence on Rodimus to get to Optimus as well. He KNEW there were meetings he wasn't privy to. HE! The Chief of Security! What could they possibly be doing without him? The answer was simple. They were doing what SHE wanted, and he was excluded because he was on to her. Kup didn't know why he was immune to her mental influence. Probably his vast experience and powerful sense of identity. Poor, young Rodimus had never stood a chance - he was always so uncertain, always questioning and dreaming. It must have seemed so nice to the boy that a woman could love him that way. And of course he would be defenseless against the whore's final weapon ...sex. Now Magnus was in the same trap. Neither of them were strong enough to resist such temptation. MARRIED!

But Kup still needed proof! But how to prove to someone their judgment was clouded? He eyed the work on his desk and felt hope rise within him. He had an idea.

X

X

X

The Maelstrom reached orbit over Cybertron, although no one on Cybertron was aware of that fact. Entirely cloaked, the massive ship wrapped itself in the local star and radiation patterns, so that neither Autobot sensors or the naked optic would see anything but what it expected - nothing at all. There was other shielding as well. Shields that prevented all known forms of teleportation - unless of course, someone on board allowed it. Shields that prevented telepathic and empathic scans from detecting the minds and hearts aboard the ship - everything the Jabez designers had felt was necessary to hunt wary, and often psychically enhanced prey, and everything the current occupants now needed to hunt Jabez.

Some of the current occupants were feeling extra need for the tele-empathic shields right now.

"Shellshock? Are you coming down with us?" Malice asked, touching his large hand with her tiny pale fingers briefly, and then drawing back. Of all of them, she was the only one of the crew who touched him that casually. The others respected his shield-like, cold attitude and maintained their distance. Even Malice never held the contact for long - touching him briefly now and then and then backing off almost at once. It was as if she wanted to remind him that she was there, and that he could breach the gulf between them whenever he chose to reach out. He was glad she was there, but he was equally glad she left the decision to him.

"Yes," he said. He returned to staring down at Cybertron again, as he had been since they'd reached orbit. He knew the name of every city, every chasm, every bridge. What a fragile, alien place it seemed, and it called to a part of his soul he didn't want roused. Let that side of him sleep. Let it die. Its awakening meant nothing but pain. Cybertron was so beautiful. He turned his back on it.

Malice looked at his face with concern. She always did that - staring at his face for the faintest change or flicker of feeling that might let her guess what he was feeling. As usual there was nothing, and she always wondered what it would take to get him to show some response. Even the day he'd gone down to force Rodimus out of the coma the young Prime had let himself fall into with Lancer, Shellshock had shown almost no feeling. He'd returned home, seen the faces of many friends, and confronted the one person who really knew what the Jabez had done to both of them - yet the emotional flotsam and jetsam had never reached the surface. Sometimes Malice wondered if that was because he hid it deliberately, COULDN'T let it show, or if his heart was so damaged that the dead face really reflected what was going on inside. Nothing.

Then again if he felt nothing, why would Claudia be so religiously devoted to avoiding him? He did feel, Malice decided (not for the first time), and she could only imagine what he must feel looking down at his home-world.

"You don't have to go," she reminded him.

"Yes. I do."

"Why?" Malice pressed. Come on. Come on. Talk for a change!

"I owe them," he said, and then walked off - a sure sign that any further questions would be completely ignored. She could follow him around all day trying to get an answer and he would act as though there was no one there at all. She sighed, frustrated. Who did he owe? Rodimus? Ultra Magnus? What did he owe them? Why did he think he owed them anything at all if he felt the ties were cut?

She was concentrating so hard on all of this she didn't notice Robert coming up along side to touch her arm.

She yelped, and his eyes widened. It was never a good idea to sneak up on a telekinetic - especially an ill, stressed out telekinetic. Malice was in much better shape than she'd been when hunting for Lancer. She had put on a little weight (consciously), was making an effort to sleep more, and now had a firm grip on her powers again. Losing control of them when confronting Lancer had been enough to shock some reason into the way she looked after herself. Startling her was still a dumb thing to do though - one moment of surprise or weakness and she could have sent Robert through the bulkhead.

He elected to pretend he hadn't just done something life-threateningly idiotic.

"That went pretty well," Robert said.

"You heard?" Malice asked.

"Yeah. I've been sitting in the pilot's seat since before either of you came in. It's not my fault if people mistake me for part of the furniture," Robert said with a wry smile.

Malice didn't return the smile, and Robert sighed to himself. She and Shellshock shared a similar lack of reaction to most things - it was merely a matter of degree.

"How can you say it went well then? He still won't talk about anything. I know this bothers him Rob. How could it NOT bother him?"

"It probably does. But look at it this way, you got three whole responses out of him. A few months ago he would have just looked at you. He still won't say a word to most of us. Talon was ecstatic the day Shock just said to him 'Go Away.'"

"I suppose," Malice said, looking down at Cybertron herself now.

"Maybe this will bring something out in him Malice. Remember the time he went down to talk to Lancer's... um... man..." Robert trailed off. He was hitting a blank.

"Rodimus," Malice prompted, "Yeah I remember."

"Right. Rodimus. Weird name. Anyway, he said more to that guy in a few minutes than I think he has in all the months he's been here combined. Maybe this is what he needs."

"Maybe. I hope so," Malice said softly, but she kept her eyes warily on Cybertron. It didn't look beautiful to her. She looked at the pitted, battle-pocked landscape. The hollow eyes of the moon. The unfathomable chasms that crisscrossed the surface like scars. It looked like some kind of predatory beast to her, lying in wait to swallow them up in its maw of ragged teeth....and yet they were voluntarily walking into its jaws, as if they were some kind of sacrifice to tame the beast. She shuddered.

She was so happy for Lancer. It had been terrible to see her child-hood friend suffer such painful wounds, and continue to suffer for so many years. That the wounds had finally closed seemed like some kind of deliverance, and Malice had been anxious to see her friend whole and happy once again. Now though, Malice's joy turned to fear. She had a bad feeling about this trip. She had a very bad feeling about it indeed.

X

X

X

Ultra Magnus was tired. Not physically - he had just recharged - but somehow he was still tired. He paused in his work to look down at his robotic hands - turning them from on side to the other as if he had never seen them before. He touched one with the other and felt next to nothing. All the sensors were working properly, but somehow he felt they weren't. He knew what it was. He had just spent over a month in human form, and even if he hadn't been consciously aware of things for most of it, he had gotten used to the heightened sensations of being human. It bothered him in a vague way that his own body should seem so unnatural and cold. Marissa had been in and out a few times, and his first response had been to hold her.

"Don't Magnus," she had said with a smile to soften her response, "You'll wear yourself out too fast and then you won't be any fun at all this evening." She was right, of course, but he still wanted her closeness. Work had never seemed so much like...work, before now. He was too easily distracted by so many things...Marissa, their engagement, the talk of children... CHILDREN? ... Unicron. Magnus sighed, and tried to focus on what he;d been asked to do.

Rodimus and Optimus had been visibly reluctant to ask him to return to work, even for just a few days. They both knew he wasn't ready, and had given him every opportunity to say no. Unfortunately, Rodimus' next trip to Vector Sigma was vital - three whole sectors of sensors had been meticulously wired for Vector Sigma to begin scanning for Converts, and other suspicious activities - and the trip had been delayed too long. Those sectors were among the worst for Slaver activity and every day they delayed meant more lives slipped through their fingers. Normally, Optimus could have managed alone, but the turmoil at the trade conferences had left him back-logged as well.

Magnus knew they wouldn't have even asked if it hadn't been terribly important, and at the time, he had thought he could handle it easily. All they were asking was he help with some of the administrative nonsense he usually could manage in his sleep. Well, he was handling it. It just wasn't easy. As soon as Rodi and Jazz got back, he would be off active duty again to recover more and train with Lancer. He shook his head, trying to imagine himself back in training like a rookie. It would be good for him though. He was sick of Rodi putting him on the ground at a whim. It was time for a change. Besides, if there was anyone who could help guide him through the pain of his possession, it was Lancer.

He snorted to himself. All of the millions of years he had served the Autobots as a warrior and a commander not had as much impact as the last year of his life - in particular the last few weeks of it. He stood up and tried to take stock of it all. Maybe if he got some thinking done, he would be able to concentrate more on the mundane business of running a planet at war.

Magnus brooded for a while on the changes in that war since Rodimus had returned with that bitter, savage silence cloaking his feet and his mind.

Then there was Marissa, and the equally profound changes she had invoked in their relationship and in him. And now she not only had somehow gotten him to agree to marry her, she had also gotten him to agree to offspring. He smiled to himself and relived the conversation.

They had just pushed everyone out the door...OK....HE had pushed everyone out the door, and turned to confront her.

She had seen the look on his face and smiled a little nervously.

"CHILDREN?!" he had blurted loudly. All of the chaotic things he had been wrestling with all through that impossible day had been summed up in that one word. Not Rodi's insane antics, nor even the traumatic morning and picnic with her skeptical parents had been enough to keep that one thought from surfacing again and again.

"Yes, Magnus. Children." Marissa had said very calmly - even a little sadly.

"B...But..ch. ch..CHILDREN?!"

"Are you always this articulate?" she had asked wryly, taking his hand and leading him towards the couch. They sat down, still holding hands.

"W...WHY?" In retrospect, Magnus had to smile at himself. He hadn't been able to get much more than a word out at a time. The entire concept floored him. Oh sure, Edana was priceless, but it was OK for Rodimus to have a child; doing insane, stupid things and pulling them off was Rodi's trademark.

Marissa had responded to that question with the saddest, gentlest, most loving smile he had ever seen from her. The power of it had stunned him to the core. She had rested her hand on his face, and he felt his inner turmoil grow still. She understood; he only had to wait for her to explain it to him.

"Oh," she had finally said, "I have lots of reasons. I think we would make good parents. I've always wanted kids. All the usual reasons, but...really it's just because I love you and I want to have a living, breathing expression of that running around causing trouble. When...when I thought I'd lost you...I felt.. like... like if you really left me that I needed part of you with me. If I couldn't have all of you, I thought maybe I could just have a little of you." She looked down to hide the tears, but he saw them anyway. He had drawn her to him and hugged her so hard he was surprised later he hadn't hurt her.

"But...but..." he had stammered, letting her go. She pinched him lightly, and he somehow managed to get the rest of the sentence out. "Marissa? How can I be a father? I don't know anything about human children! I'm a soldier! I'm an AUTOBOT! We don't HAVE children! If we have a baby, I'll probably drop it or something!"

"You didn't drop Edana," Marissa had pointed out.

"Yeah, but...don't pinch me! I'm serious! I can't picture myself around kids!"

"Oh. That must have been some OTHER City Commander I saw letting that little girl get his fingers all slimy this afternoon. Next argument....or are you done?" Marissa had said, in a voice that was just too smugly self-assured for Magnus' comfort. She apparently thought her victory over his reservations was a fore-gone conclusion.

"But.." he had said (taking care to watch her hands) "what if...?"

"Yes?"

"What if the baby doesn't LIKE me?"

Marissa had laughed and laughed, and then leaned forward to kiss him, still laughing. She had crawled onto his lap and started playing with his longish hair and ears. "Somehow, Ultra Magnus, I think if Rodi's empathic daughter can spend the afternoon grinning at you, and watching your hands for her next treat, I don't think you have too much to worry about." She moved her hands down to his chest and he felt his train of thought rapidly derailing.

"But..ow!..Edana isn't ours! She's not with us that long, and we aren't RAISING her! Lancer watches me like a hawk the whole time! It's not like she'd let me screw up or anything! Uh...Marissa! Stop it! Now I want to talk about this! Come on slow down already! It's NOT normal for me to have a child! What if it isn't healthy? Ohh! Marissa! Quit it! Aren't you worried about any of this?"

"Not really. I mean, you aren't saying anything human men haven't been saying since the dawn of time."

"Really?"

"Really. Every parent worries they'll make mistakes, or that their child won't be born healthy. To be honest, I'd be MORE worried if you weren't thinking about these things. I think about them too, but I'm not about to let that stop us," Marissa said, with her lips bare millimeters from his. Her hands moved lower.

"Well... if it means that much to you," he had said, acknowledging, but confused by, his own surrender.

Standing at the window in his office, Magnus smiled again and shook his head. All that day he had been stewing on concerns, drawbacks, pitfalls, and outright fears, none of which had been discussed directly. A few words out of her, and they had all vanished like magic. He couldn't remember half of them even now, and those he did remember were weightless. She wanted kids. She thought they could do it. Well fine. Who was he to argue? Besides, her wandering hands had rapidly turned into a very long, passionate love-making during which he realized they had used no birth-control and hadn't BEEN using birth-control since he'd woken up. And how was he going to argue when she already had him roaring towards culmination....

X

X

X

Magnus turned, a half-smile still on his lips and froze in shock. Kup was standing in front of his desk - his face a virtual caricature of anger and frustration. How long he had been there was something Magnus could only guess at.

"Yes Kup, what is it?" Magnus asked, trying to sound as if he weren't surprised and just a little bit angry himself.

"What do you mean WHAT IS IT? Magnus! I just told you I'm here to discuss those reports you were supposed to be reviewing! I need your approval before I can implement them!" Kup said with more than his usual grating. It said something to Magnus that the Security Chief wasn't even bothering to curse in his usual fashion. Magnus cursed a little himself inwardly. He had skimmed the report in question briefly a few hours ago. It was full of Kup's usual, unimaginative nonsense. A few more cameras here and there, the occasional useless gun-turrets...all of the same old measures which had allowed so many slavers to use Cybertron as a fuel stop, meeting place, and auction house for so long. Magnus hadn't given the report much attention. Optimus and Rodimus had agreed to let Kup go on with whatever he wanted to do within reason. It was a very natural way to keep up appearances that nothing had changed, while Rodimus had used his knowledge as an assassin to design Cybertron's REAL security systems.

What Magnus had read of the report filled him with something akin to contempt and shame. It was so glaringly arrogant -virtually ignoring all the humanoid life which poured through Cybertron daily - as if they had no intelligence or capacity to see, think, or do anything that might make trouble for big, tough Autobots in any way. If he had really been human, he would have been insulted with the implied contempt it showed. How in the hell had Marissa worked with him so long? Not too long ago he had shared this view-point! No wonder the slavers held them in contempt - real, JUSTIFIED contempt!

It sickened Magnus that he had ever been a party to such nonsense, and he wanted Kup out of there as fast as possible so he could get on with fixing this terrible injustice.

"I read it earlier. You have approval."

Kup stared at him.

"WHAT?!" Magnus snapped.

"You didn't even read it did you?" Kup whispered. It wasn't a question.

"Of course I read it! It's approved! Now go away. I'm busy!"

"NO! YOU DIDN'T! IF YOU DID YOU WOULDN'T HAVE APPROVED IT!" Kup accused.

"WHAT?!"

"IT'S A PHONY REPORT!"

"WHAT?! WHY YOU....." Magnus started.

"I KNEW YOU WEREN'T DOING YOUR JOB!" Kup accused.

Magnus was stunned momentarily speechless.

Kup suddenly seemed sad. "I've been keeping tabs on you my friend. You haven't been concentrating on your job. You're getting sloppy and unprofessional."

Magnus remained stunned. It hadn't been so long ago he had accused Rodimus of the same thing.

"It isn't your fault, my friend," Kup was continuing. "Your judgment has obviously been muddled - you understand now? You understand what she's doing?"

She? "She?" Magnus asked. This wasn't happening. He didn't have time or energy for this.

"Lancer. If it wasn't for her you wouldn't be in this state. You would never have fallen for such blatant stupidity before she got to you," Kup said in a voice so soothing it was patronizing.

Lancer? Stupidity? Got to who?

"KUP? What does Lancer have to do with the fact that I'm too tired to be bothered with another of your asinine reports?" Magnus snapped.

"Isn't it obvious?! She taking over! First Rodimus! Now you! Even Optimus trusts her! She's toying with your minds! Staging that insanity with Unicron was such a blatant load of slag and..."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT YOU OBSOLETE OLD FOOL? LANCER DID MORE THAN HELP SAVE MY LIFE UP THERE! SHE SHOWED ME HOW TO SAVE MY SOUL!" He was on his feet and seething, fighting not to let the memories of that horror overwhelm him. If Lancer hadn't been there urging him to fight...maybe he wouldn't have even tried.... He couldn't get the words out though, and stood there with his mouth working uselessly in remembered horror.

"Magnus that's nonsense! If anything invaded your mind it was her! And she's influencing Marissa too...."

"what....." Magnus grated, very, very quietly. Kup missed the signals entirely - he thought he was finally getting through to someone. The way Magnus fingers began crunching into the desk might have warned him, but Kup was too far into his own carefully constructed reality to acknowledge his peril.

"Well, of course. It's not Marissa's fault. She doesn't really love you of course, she just can't control that mating instinct now that Lancer has a hold of her mind."

Kup waited for Magnus to agreed. The City Commander was still so utterly still- hands clutching the corners of the desk, face an expressionless void. Close enough.

"Marissa is just another pawn naturally - she's at the mercy of her own lust," Kup went on obliviously. Whatever else he planned to say never made it out of his throat.

Magnus went completely berserk.

The only time he had ever felt this much insane rage before was the day Rodimus had suggested Marissa might need to be killed for security reasons. Beyond speech now, as he had been then, Magnus didn't speak or even think. Marissa went to the core of him, and threats to Marissa evoked the deepest fury in him. Going after Rodimus had not been a matter of choice - it had been pure instinctive necessity. The young Prime was an assassin however, and had dodged Magnus' wrath like a skilled matador. Kup had no such advantage, nor was he expecting Magnus to rip his desk from its moorings and throw it aside like so much paper. The City Commander was beyond thought, and was going straight for cause - going around the desk wasn't an option. Before the echoes of the crash had ceased, Kup found himself slammed crushingly into the wall with Magnus' hand around his throat and compressing fast. The heavy plating which made up the office's walls was distinctly crumpled. Kup's eyes widened with shock and pain at the unbelievable, murderous force at his throat - knowing that Magnus wasn't holding back, wasn't playing or threatening, wasn't stopping... The City Commander spoke not a word, but there were guttural noises coming from deep within his chest that had nothing to do with sanity or mercy.

Kup dimly cursed himself for underestimating the hold Lancer had on his friends yet again - and felt terrible fear that he would die and leave her unchallenged. He felt his life force fading.

"MAGNUS ARE YOU ALL RI....WHAT ARE YOU DOING? MAGNUS!" Optimus came running through the door with Elita right on his heels. He took in what he saw with complete disbelief but he didn't let that slow him down. Magnus didn't even turn to look at him, and Optimus could see his fingers had already done considerable damage to Kup's throat. A few more seconds or centimeters and the old warrior would be irreparably damaged.

"MAGNUS! STOP IT! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" Optimus shouted. He grabbed Magnus' hand and fought to release those rigid fingers with no success.

"MAGNUS PLEASE!" Elita cried. "LISTEN TO OPTIMUS!"

Kup's eyes flickered.

"He..." Magnus grated. "He.. Said...." The City Commander's leaden voice trailed off. He was clearly barely present enough to speak - he certainly wasn't capable of repeating Kup's slander. The thought of it did have its effect on his fingers however, and Kup's optics flickered off and stayed off for several seconds.

"Whatever he said isn't worth this Magnus," Optimus insisted, fighting to get into Magnus' line of sight to meet those crazed optics. "Come on. Let him go. You want to get married, not court martialed."

Magnus' eyes flickered once toward Prime's and for a sickening second Optimus thought he was just going to crush the life right out of his one-time friend. A little more pressure and those fingers would go right through Kup housing - probably severing his head right off. Optimus paused uncertainly - caught between shooting or grappling more fiercely with Magnus and the fear that such action would spur on that final crush....Suddenly, with an enraged, disgusted roar, Magnus threw Kup across the room. The City Commander stood there seething with fury, and Optimus knew enough of battle-rage to know that one wrong word out of Kup and nothing in the universe would save him. Optimus wasn't going to let that happen to either friend.

"GO HOME! GO HOME MAGNUS!" he ordered.

Magnus didn't move. His optics were fixated on Kup where he lay gasping on the floor.

"GO HOME MAGNUS!" Optimus ordered again.

"He..Said... Marissa...."

"Yes, Marissa! Go HOME! Go see Marissa! Don't do this Magnus! Don't do this to her! Go HOME!" Optimus said. He saw Magnus' optics flicker towards him again. "Elita, take him home. Make sure he stays there," Optimus said.

Elita nodded, and took Magnus gently by the arm. His pain filled optics turned towards her without seeming to see her. "Let's go Commander," she insisted, pulling gently. He followed in much the same way he had when he was catatonic, and Elita felt a chill. Whatever Kup had said had wounded Ultra Magnus more deeply than anyone could ever guess. It saddened her. Magnus might seem much like his old self, but his heart remained raw and exposed. She led him towards Marissa's quarters as much out of habit as out of good judgment. He had his own quarters, but they remained virtually untouched. He said nothing to her in spite of her gentle reassurances, and startled her by slamming his fist into the wall a few times as they walked. He left a rather remarkable trail of dents, but at least they were just in the wall rather than Kup's skull. Elita let Magnus do it without one word to dissuade him - a little extra maintenance was a small price to pay. If Magnus had killed Kup, he would have had to face a court-martial. His current condition would have probably gotten him excused, but it would have been hard on him, and a definite set-back to his recovery. Not to mention the fact that he would have been hard on himself for doing it. Whatever their current problem was, Kup and Magnus had been friends a very long time, and Elita doubted Magnus would have forgiven himself for killing Kup, no matter how annoying the old bot was. She was only a little surprised when he shifted to human form just as the reached Marissa's quarters. Optimus must have alerted Marissa to come home, because she was waiting anxiously by the door before they even rang.

X

X

X

Marissa nodded her thanks to Elita, who was not offended when the EDC Captain neglected to invite her inside. Elita smiled as the door closed in her face, knowing that Magnus was more likely to behave there than in detention.

"Magnus what happened?" Marissa asked the instant the door shut.

"Is it sex?" Magnus blurted suddenly.

"What?"

"Is it just the sex?"

Marissa blinked, utterly confused by this rapid, anxious question.

"Is what just sex? Magnus? What are you talking about?"

"Why do you want to marry me?"

Marissa drew back, and tried to take stock of him. He looked angry. Angry...and afraid. She knew she needed to diffuse both feelings before she would get a straight answer out of him.

"I don't know. I guess I'm a masochist, and I loath you company, so I decided to force you to stick around all the time so I can suffer."

Magnus blinked at her.

"I'm kidding stupid! Because I love you, why do you think?! Boy, some guys just like to hear that over and over."

"Is it just the sex?"

"No."

"Really? How do you know?" Magnus insisted.

"I know." Marissa said. "Magnus what brought this on? Sit down. Don't just stand there staring at me! Sit down. Better. Tell me what happened! Optimus said you had a fight with Kup."

"I did."

"Why?"

"He said.."

"Go on."

"He said...hesaidyouonlywantedmefor sex. Isitjustthesex?"

"No. No you big dope. It isn't just the stupid sex." Marissa said. She was both relieved and angry. Relieved that Magnus' worry was so simple, but angry again at Unicron for implanting this terrible self-doubt that made this fear even a possibility in his mind, and angry at Kup for implying such a thing. What in the hell was going on with the Security Chief anyway?

"Really? How do you know?"

"What do you mean how do I know? What kind of question is that?"

"Well, I mean. I know it's not what Kup thinks...you don't want me because of Lancer..."

"Lancer...what has Lancer got to do with thi..."

"But I thought maybe he was partly right and that maybe it was just because we have so much fun.. and...and.." His voice was starting to take on that hysterical edge it had the day he'd awakened. Ultra Magnus was better, but he wasn't all the way better by a long shot.

"No. Now you stop it."

"B...but...OW!"

"You are forgetting the 'No Buts' rule," Marissa said primly. She pinched his behind again lightly for emphasis. "OK. You want proof. I'll give you proof. You know I wanted to keep a part of you with me if I lost you right?" He nodded. "And you know I was trying my damnedest to give you stimulus to awaken you right?" He nodded again, but she could see he wasn't getting her implications. "Put two and two together Big Guy." she said with a sad little smile. She noted his widening eyes with satisfaction.

"Now," she said. "I will tell you something. I hated every minute of it. It was the single most awful thing I felt I had to do for you. It made me feel dirty, and sad, and so utterly lonely I wanted to die. Only the hope that you might have come back to me, or that at least I might get to have your child forced me to continue, but I still threw up after. There. So much for Kup's conspiracy theory, as if he knows anything about it anyway!"

Magnus stared at her, horrified at the pain in her voice, but he smiled, ever so slightly at her last remark. She sighed in relief, and grinned to herself. By the time she was done listing all of the things Kup didn't know about sex, she actually had Magnus laughing. Then she went on to make sure Magnus himself finished the day knowing a little bit more about it himself. So much for Kup's conspiracy theory indeed.

X

X

X

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Optimus roared at Kup. He had never been so angry at one of his own in his entire life. Kup was still on the floor, but Optimus made no move to help him. "WHAT did you say?"

"I..told ..him the truth. His engagement...is a sham. He NEEDS to know now before it gets any worse."

Optimus was silent for a second. There were so many thing that were ludicrous about that statement that he had no way of even classifying all of them. He started with the one of the first that came to mind. "He just come out of being catatonic! Rodimus and I debated even giving him light work to do and YOU come in and START trouble! After what just happened with Unicron you're lucky he didn't kill you - or that YOU didn't kill him!"

"Nothing... happened with.. Unicron..." Kup rasped.

"What?!"

"Nothing happened....it's all ..that circuit twisting Lancer..."

Lancer? "LANCER?! What is going through your mind now Kup?!" Optimus roared.

"She did it...messed with him, like she messed with Rodimus."

Optimus lost the very last his temper - which meant his voice got very quiet, and very very threatening. "Now you listen to me, you insufferable old fool. You stay away from Ultra Magnus with this stupidity - he's been through MORE than enough already. I've been holding back on this Lancer obsession of yours because I hoped Rodimus would take care of you himself. As far as I was concerned it was personal between you and him. Most of the Autobots are smarter than to listen to your nonsense anyway. Well, now you have taken it too far and I'M getting involved! I'm not going to tell you how blind and ignorant your ideas about Lancer are. I'm not going to tell you how childish and spoiled you are for letting jealousy destroy your reason and every friendship you ever had. I AM going to tell you that you are forbidden to speak to Ultra Magnus until further notice...and the next incident you cause will land you in detention! NOT A WORD! Open your mouth Kup, and I may just change my mind and have you court-martialed for causing dissention right now! Go home! You are relieved of duty for the rest of the day - don't give me an excuse to make it permanent! And pick up this mess!" Optimus finished with a near-growl - indicating the pile of junk which had been Magnus' desk.

He left Kup alone with the mess, his thoughts, and the question of how it was possible to seem like you just slammed an automatic door.

X

X

X

"This hasn't been too bad today, Shellshock," Malice said with a smile. "I think they are getting used to you, the ones that know you I mean."

They were walking through the halls of Central, having just been to see Lancer on the trumped up excuse that their latest hunt had brought them to this sector. Well, that was partly true, but they had changed the order of their missions to bring them here sooner. They had invaded Lancer's quarters en-mass, thanks to Pagan, and she had been apparently delighted to see all of them, even Shellshock as far as he could tell. He and Malice were now wandering the halls of Central in search of the contact for their real mission. In other words they were trying to find Jazz to see where and when the party was going be held. Shellshock didn't like being chosen to search one iota, but he couldn't argue that he stood the best chance of finding Jazz in spite of the Specialist's vagabond habits.

He didn't answer Malice, although he privately agreed with her. The few Autobots who were cleared to know who he was had apparently given up most of their delusions that they could "remind" him of his Autobot origins and make him want to come home. They were having no luck finding Jazz (they didn't know he was currently enduring Rodi's long soliloquy on the coolness of having kids in the tunnels to Vector Sigma) but they weren't being mauled by anxious Autobots either. There were a few long looks, and an awkward greeting or two, but for the most part they went their way undisturbed.

One thing Shellshock was quickly realizing though - Central was a lot bigger when you were human.

After a while, he could see Malice was getting tired. She didn't dare use her telekinesis to levitate herself, and she was unused to this much physical activity. He said nothing, but led her towards one of the rest areas for humans which now littered the halls of Central at intervals, a new addition he didn't fully understand. Rodimus knew about slave runners and converts - and Shellshock could not understand why they seemed to be making Cybertron MORE attractive to organic visitors. Still, it was alright to see Malice sit down in one of the cushioned chairs with a grateful sigh.

"Thanks Shellshock. My feet really hurt," she said with a smile. He wished she wouldn't call attention to his actions, but he nodded once in response. She smiled a bit wider, a rare and welcomed sight. Malice's worries always took such a toll on her features. Her late husband had been Converted, and she had resisted acknowledging that fact until he betrayed her and kidnaped their infant son. Finding the baby had been a perilous venture which had nearly gotten Talon killed, and Silva had vanished some time during the fight. Even now little Evan Ryan didn't seem quite right. He was nearly three years old, but he didn't speak, and remained tiny and sickly. No one could figure out what was wrong with the boy, but there were whisperings of radiation poisoning, or something similar amongst their friends. Whatever it was had left no trace other than the lingering weakness in what had been a robust and healthy child. Add to that Lancer's disappearance, and Shellshock's own trauma, and Malice had poured more energy than she had into her fears. Sometimes Shellshock suspected the way she mothered and worried over him was as much an effort to silence her past as it was her very real concern for him. She was obsessed with the death of her beloved husband, and what might have been if he had lived. Focusing on Shellshock and Lancer helped silence the ghosts which shadowed her, but she remained pale and haunted, a wraith herself with only brief flashes of her former beauty showing through.

Shellshock sat down quietly beside her and waited; the stillness in his heart made patience effortless. He may as well have been a stone awaiting the next ice-age. Neither of them paid any heed to the Autobot footsteps as they approached, although both of them heard them.  
Kup's shade passed the door, and then returned to stare at them.

Shellshock looked up, staring at Kup a second with plain disinterest, and then away again. He had nothing to say to his former comrade. Malice seemed a little uneasy. She didn't know this Autobot, and she was never sure if the robot she was looking at was one of those who knew who she was, and who Shellshock had been. She didn't know any reason ANY Autobot would look so hostile whether they knew or not.

"Goldbug...." Kup grated.

Shellshock looked up again, and this time Malice was surprised to see a faint glimmer of anger. She was rather shocked at the Autobot's use of her friend's old name - all of the Autobots who were cleared with knowledge of his identity had been warned.

"No," Shellshock finally said, pointedly turning his back. Malice knew that as far as he was concerned, the conversation was over.

"His name is Shellshock now," she said quietly, but with firm insistence. Surely this Autobot would remember that, and not rub any more salt in Shellshock's wounds.

"His name...is Goldbug, and he IS an Autobot," the Autobot said in a harsh accusing voice. "You filthy bitches just won't let him remember that."

Malice's mouth fell open. His words were almost incomprehensible to her, they were so divorced from what she was expecting. Up until this point, the Autobots she had encountered were nothing if not TOO friendly. This scathing attack was quite out of the bounds of reality to her.

"So tell me Malice," the Autobot growled, "Are you here to get pointers from Lancer on how to fuck up or just fuck with an Autobot?"

Continued in Part D 


	4. Chapter 4

Maelstrom Chapter 25

Transitions D

Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original **Maelstrom Comics** and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.

**Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored!**

Transitions - Part D

Malice's mouth opened even wider if possible. Fuck up..? Fuck with...? Was he referring to Rodimus and Lancer? Was he referring to HER and SHELLSHOCK? As if he had ever been anything but more than a sort of second son to her?! She was so stunned she didn't know how to respond. Tears of pure disbelief threatened.

Shellshock turned around to stare, expressionless at Kup, those odd golden eyes penetrating the old warrior and seeming to sear into him. It was as if Shellshock was tearing free his soul, weighing it, and finding it sorely lacking. For an instant, Kup was afraid, even more afraid than he had been with Magnus' hard hand around his throat. (Even First Aid had been less than sympathetic over those injuries, which had just been repaired.) That was only physical pain, and physical fear, which Kup was well used to. This was different. Shellshock's dead, alien eyes spoke of more than even the most wanton seduction could account for. They spoke in clear words what Rodimus' occasional lapse whispered of, frightening Kup past all endurance. Pain. Unimaginable torment. But no...It was all a trick. No one had suffered. It was all the work of these temptresses leading his friends away from their true natures. Goldbug hadn't been hurt. Neither had Rodimus...surely not Hot Ro...not Rodimus, who Kup had hurt so badly, and who Kup had sworn would never be hurt again....

Madly, Kup reached for what had been Goldbug, thinking only to take him out of Malice's seductive grasp, and somehow free him. Somehow he would silence the look in those eyes. He had to. It was unbearable.

His hand encountered an invisible barrier. Shaking his head in disbelief and fury, Kup reached again. This time the invisible force not only blocked him, but took hold of his entire arm so that he could neither move it forward or withdraw it. Kup cursed, but it was still several seconds before he realized what had happened. Malice was rumored to be a telekinetic. He hadn't really believed such a thing. How could such a tiny being - small even for a human - wield such power? He had taken reports of her strength for exaggerations at the most, and considered them yet another thread in the web of lies the Maelstrom crew (Lancer) spread about themselves. True, he had seen evidence of it when Lancer was speared, but that whole thing had been such an obvious set-up in the first place how could he give credence to any of it?

Yet another miscalculation in a whole day of them, apparently. "Let me go you conniving little minx!" Kup roared, his voice strident with rage that increased proportionally with his increasing fear. "You won't let him come back to us! You've made him forget what he is with your sex and your lies! You insolent little subversive circuit searing squishies don't have the courage to confront us directly, but you'll take us down one at a time and..."

"STOP IT!" Malice shrieked, putting her hands over her ears. "Stopit!stopit!stopit!!" Her control over his arm faltered, but it only served to knock him off balance. "SEX?!" she cried. "With Shellshock? I'll be happy the day he lets me touch his hand for more than a second! He's not been strong enough to walk for more than a few months anyway! How can you think that of us? We're trying to HELP him!" She sobbed, feeling crushed and somehow violated by these unfounded accusations. At the same time she felt guilty for saying such things in front of Shellshock as if he wasn't there to hear and be hurt by them.

She glanced up at Shellshock, expecting at most, to see a ghost of hurt there. What she saw instead surprised her so much it was frightening. A smile, but not a pleasant smile at all. It was a grim, twisted, bitter thing - as if all his darkest imaginings had just come true. Malice froze, in stunned horror, as it continued to spread across his face like a plague. Kup saw it too, and froze in his invisible restraints.

"You always were a fool, Kup," Shellshock said, making no effort to hide his derision. "Security Chief! HAH! How many times did your so-called security let Soundwave's cassettes go in and out at will? How many years did you rely on the same tactics, the same sad measures, without ever stopping to reevaluate the situation or question whether or not they were working? And no one here has the heart to tell you the truth of what's going on or let you know how obsolete you've become!" He let out a brief, mocking laugh. "But you sense it don't you? And instead of trying to change or learn new tactics, you have created a complete fantasy to feel useful in! You will blame anyone and everyone except yourself!"

Shellshock laughed and laughed, while Malice's eyes widened. She had never seen him smile before, let alone laugh, and she found herself backing away. It wasn't that she thought he would or could hurt her, but the bitter, scornful pain in his voice hurt to hear. She realized suddenly that he held this view towards all of his people to one degree or another, and held his former-self in similar contempt for having once been one of them. Hatred. That's what he felt. Refined hatred for the arrogance that had led to his torture. She shuddered. Knowing that he was hurt, and afraid of the Jabez was one thing, but she didn't realize she had THIS to contend with as well.

"How does it feel, KUP, to be the only one SMART enough to have figured this all out?" Shellshock said, violent sarcasm wrapped around each and every word. "It must be REALLY comforting to know that you are SUCH a genius to see such a clever conspiracy when all the rest of the Autobots, including BOTH Primes, think you are just plain stupid!"

"You're mad!" Kup cried in horror.

"Yes!" Shellshock hissed, "But at least I'm not blinded by my own conceit! Not anymore!" He grabbed Malice's cold, numb hand and dragged her stumbling after him, still laughing. They were out the door before Kup suddenly felt the pressure on his arm give way. He lost his balance completely and fell, destroying the lounge as he did. By the time he untangled himself from the vending machines and tables, they had vanished, although Kup didn't need them there to hear that derisive inescapable laughter. He left the room destroyed. What difference did it make?

Kup felt cold, and ill. There was the tiniest part of him that understood the truth in Shellshock's words. Tiny, but powerful. Its message had driven him to look for other answers, locking it away beneath layers of desperate logic. Every discrepancy between his theories and the evidence before him added another theory. Some part of him sensed his sanity cracking under the weight of his ever-increasing stack of rationales. Still, he clung to them, and sought desperately to bolster them with more and more of the same. He didn't know what else to do - for although that tiny part saw the whole construction falling apart, he knew somehow the truth would destroy him. He headed for his quarters, feeling much like a person in a leaky boat, with the water coming in faster than he could bail. 

X

X

X

"Elita, this is Claudia," Lancer said with a smile. "Claudia, this is Elita One, Female Autobot Commander. I think you and Pagan have met before right?"

"I'm honored to meet you Claudia," Elita said seriously, but with a warm smile. "And as for Pagan, I believe we saw each other did we not, but I wouldn't call it a formal meeting."

*TK* Pagan clucked. "The eyes see, the mind knows. What need have we for more formality than that? We were united of purpose then as now. Nothing more is required save for silly humans who forget much and need to make a ceremony out of everything."

Lancer chuckled. "Oh. I see. And all of those rituals Kain performs to sanctify his bath water are purely necessary right?"

Pagan hissed and gave Lancer a bone-jarring push, although she smiled. "Such things are the among the reasons I am an outcast at home hatchling, and you well know it. My kind could never comprehend why I preferred my bath water to be clean, rather than sanctified."

They were in the communications center. Elita had just taken a formal report from Rodimus that he and Jazz had just reached Vector Sigma without incident. Rodimus insisted on hourly reports of their progress. He didn't THINK Vector Sigma would try anything, but he was far, far from ever trusting it. Lancer had brought the baby and her friends down to keep Elita company for a little while. The female commander had plenty of busy-work with her, but she was pretty much tied to this room until Rodi and Jazz got back. It was the only terminal secure enough to pass Rodi's criteria, and she was the only one with clearance to receive these reports who had nothing more pressing to do. It was a very necessary and very dull task. Lancer had waited for Rodi to make his report, and then brought everyone in to give Elita a little diversion from the walls. She was grateful for the distraction, and the chance to get to know Lancer's mysterious friends a little better.

Elita's first assessments of Pagan remained unchanged - she was brusque, straight-forward and domineering. She was also quite loyal to her friends.

Claudia was quiet, and thoughtful. She spoke little, and Elita got the impression the words she did use were always very carefully chosen. She seemed interested in Edana in particular, which wasn't really surprising since they share the dubious gift of empathy. Lancer asked her friend enough questions about empathy in general and Edana in particular to tell Elita the young mother was still nervous about this aspect of her child's development.

Edana seemed primarily interested in crawling all over the communications center at a rather remarkable speed. She got a hold of Pagan's tail at one point, and ended up tumbling over it - something Pagan found disproportionately hysterical - especially when Edana herself giggled about it.

"She is fine Lancer," Claudia assured her anxious friend.

"I know. I just need to hear it from someone else sometimes. She has bad moments now and then, and I worry."

*TK* Pagan clacked, "As if you thought YOUR hatchling would never be irritable."

"Oh, nice," Lancer said, smiling. Elita and the others laughed at her.

Kup passed by the door, and froze in the doorway again as he had with Malice and Shellshock. He saw Elita, and he knew better than to say anything or step inside, but for a long moment he stared at the source of all his hatred and fear.

Lancer had seen enough of hatred on the battlefield to know he would kill her if he could, but she knew that already. She didn't think she could or should confront him about it....until Edana started screaming. Claudia scooped the baby up, and tried to shield her, but couldn't block out the incredible force of hatred Kup was projecting. The elder empath was in pain herself - seldom had she felt such searing fear and loathing. She cried out, shuddering as convulsively as the infant in her arms. Lancer's answering anger as she realized what was happening to her daughter didn't help, even when Kup vanished from the doorway without saying a word.

Lancer growled quietly but turned her attention back to her shivering child. Pagan put her hand on Lancer's shoulder, and watched the young mutant clench her fist until the blood ran down between her taloned fingers. Elita glared after Kup and then at the baby. Claudia fell to the floor and wrapped her slender limbs around herself and Edana.

"You'd think he would have learned after that mess with Magnus," Elita said, almost to herself.

"WHAT?" Lancer snarled, "What was that about Magnus?"

Elita sighed - she hadn't really meant to tell Lancer about that, at least not now. "Kup...has some objections to Magnus engagement that's all," the female commander said quietly. From the way Lancer's eyes glowed and narrowed more Elita could tell it was enough for the young mutant to read between the lines.

Lancer visibly fought to calm herself, and knelt down by Claudia and Edana. Claudia unbent enough for Lancer to take the baby. "I'm sorry Claudia," Lancer whispered.

"He really hates you, Lancer," the empath finally toned out quietly. "And he hates her. He will kill you both if given a chance."

"I know he hates me. I don't care, but I never realized he hated the baby too," Lancer growled.

"You didn't care because you agreed with him in a sense," Claudia said, with faint reproach.

"Not anymore," Lancer said. "Not anymore."

X

X

X

Lancer took the baby to Marissa in desperation. Edana wouldn't calm down, and she needed peace, which Lancer was in no condition to give her at the moment. No one else was available, and Claudia said that Malice was in a similar unbalanced state for some reason - no help there. As for Claudia and Pagan themselves, neither had the first idea what to do with a human baby, and Pagan doubted she could even pick Edana up without hurting her. Marissa looked a little harried herself, but she smiled and agreed.

"Where's Magnus?" Lancer asked.

"Sleeping." Marissa said.

"Is he alright?" Lancer asked.

"He will be. He had a run in with Kup," Marissa said quietly, although her face reflected repressed anger. She obviously didn't want to talk about it.

"So did I," Lancer hissed. Edana's tired little whimpers picked up to a full blown wail again. Lancer tried to calm her, but knew that she herself was the problem. Marissa held out her arms and Lancer sadly handed her daughter over. It bothered her that she couldn't comfort her own child, but she was furious. Edana relaxed a little, and her crying softened to an exhausted hitching. Marissa glanced towards the bedroom and hoped the noise hadn't woken Magnus.

"What did Kup say to you?" Marissa asked coldly.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Lancer replied. She touched Edana's tear-stained, blotchy little face. "He didn't need to," she finished. "I'm ending this. Today. Now."

Marissa nodded, and saw the implacable determination in Lancer's eyes. Marissa didn't envy Kup the confrontation she saw brewing in Lancer, but she didn't feel sorry for him either. If Marissa had dared leave Magnus she would have been glad to join Lancer , but knew that LANCER was at the heart of the problem. Lancer...and Rodimus. Magnus had just taken the fallout. Not, that that made Marissa any less furious. She thought of Magnus' earlier rage and self-doubt, and looked down at Edana and felt the tension in the tiny muscles.

"Give him Hell," Marissa said to Lancer quietly. She meant it in the biblical sense - just, torturous punishment for sins.

"He's already got Hell," Lancer replied. "I'm just going to point it out to him." With that she turned on her heel and stalked off. Marissa smiled bitterly, and took the baby inside.

Lancer prepared herself for battle. She went to the ship and gathered her weapons, hardly acknowledging Robert who greeted her when she got in to his precious computer files. She had been gone a long time, but Robert found he remembered this mood quite clearly and stayed out of her way, knowing better than to be offended by her tunnel-vision. Lancer was hunting, and she would be like this until the quarry was brought down. Still, Robert was a bit shocked when he saw the records she pulled before storming off the ship again.

X

X

X

Kup languished in his quarters. He paced. He fretted. He sulked. He brooded on the uphill battle he was fighting, and the injustice of Prime's relieving him of duty. Part of his mind kept repeating Shellshock's mocking assertion that he was no longer fit for duty of any kind. He shook his head, and focused once again on rationalizing everything that might have supported Shellshock's claim.

There was a brief sound by his door and he looked up. It had been locked, but suddenly it flew open.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

Lancer.

In HIS doorway.

It shut behind her and locked again on its own.

He took in her posture automatically - head down, shoulders hunched and tense. She wasn't demoned out, but he could feel it just below the surface. He balanced a moment between fear and anger. Perhaps she had finally come to kill him, as he always suspected she might. Anger took over. He rushed for her. Lancer made no move to avoid him as he scooped her little body up off the floor, perhaps intending to crush her to death. It didn't matter. Her eyes flared. For the second time that day Kup found himself paralyzed. The hand which held her froze in place, and he FELT her take over the energy impulses which commanded his body. He was essentially trapped inside his own body - his mind aware, but unable to move. It was terrifying - even more terrifying than Malice's invisible power. At least that had been OUTSIDE his body.

"How does it feel, Kup?" Lancer hissed softly, "To be a prisoner in your own skin? I am not here to hurt you Kup. I am here to talk, but I felt you needed a little perspective, and I want any thought of more physical bull shit out of the way. You can not hurt me, but I can hurt you if you keep this up. Keep in mind, Kup. That if I had really wanted to, I could have killed you at any point in the last few months. Any point at all." The limb which held her activated under her control, and stiltedly, but gently set her down. Then, whatever force held him let go, and his body was his own again.

He reeled for a moment and then turned on her again. She had her back to him! She! Had her back to HIM! It was unbelievable! He went after her again, thinking to just crush her into the ground before she could react. She turned slightly to look over her shoulder, and coldly met his eyes. He saw his death there, as surely as he had seen it in Magnus' that morning. Shellshock's laughter cut through him again.

"I knew it!" He accused. "I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

"Really? Is it me Kup? Is it really me? Since I stepped into this room TO TALK you have tried to kill me twice, and twice, I've done nothing in retaliation."

"You've got your reasons," Kup seethed, "You know Rodimus would never forgive you such a thing and you would lose your means of controlling him! You're here to try to seduce me too! You know I'm on to you!"

"Say it," she challenged, "Say what you think I've done."

"YOU'VE CORRUPTED HIM! YOU'VE TAKEN OVER EVERYONE'S MIND!" Kup shrieked.  
"Ah. How? And for what purpose?" Her voice was quiet, but it had that soft danger to it, like the first faint snarl of an angry canine.

"WHY?! POWER OF COURSE!" Kup insisted.

Lancer laughed. How he wished he could just flatten her!

"And what," she continued eventually, "makes you think you Autobots HAVE power worth taking?"

Kup, flabbergasted, was silent.

She laughed some more. "Kup, do you really think, that if my friends and I wanted this planet we would have to go through all this scheming and intrigue to take it?" She laughed all the more. "We have a class one telekinetic, AND an class one telepath on board. I myself would have little trouble from the likes of you, and I can't touch either Kain or Malice! The ship itself could lay waste to all of Cybertron and you couldn't even FIND it let alone STOP it! I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the only ones who think the Autobots have any real power in this sector are, well, the Autobots."

Kup gawked. For all the time her had been baiting her, insulting her, and trying to get her to respond in a fashion that would reveal her true nature as he saw it , she had never responded. He had expected her to claim innocence, to say she was far too weak and helpless to attempt a take-over, or even to go on about being unjustly accused and gush over her devotion to Rodimus. Never had he dreamed she would boast of HAVING the power to overwhelm them, but not the interest. She didn't give him time to adjust to this new and unexpected twist.

"For all this time, Kup, I've let you try to drive a wedge between Rodi and me. I let you insult and slander me, because I thought it really only affected ME, and because I felt that while you were wrong about what I was doing, that some day I might become corrupt, and that Rodi would need you to help free him. Well, we were both wrong. You didn't hurt me, because I sided WITH you. It was the others we hurt. Rodimus was hurt. You just told Ultra Magnus the woman he loves doesn't love him! How can you claim to know that Kup? At what point did you begin suspecting Marissa of anything? She's never been anything but a good friend to you! How can you justify that, even to yourself? You sent RODIMUS' daughter into hysterics today! Is SHE out to take over the Autobots, you damned bastard? Does SHE deserve that kind of pain? You want to kill her! Even if everything you think about me is true, what makes that OK?"

He wished she would scream at him. Her calm voice kept cutting through all his excuses. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, ANYTHING, to contradict her but she cut him off again with that steely, lecturing tone.

"Oh, don't bother. You know you can't defend what you did! In your heart Kup, there has to be enough of an Autobot left to know what you did to Magnus was wrong! Having that much hate in your heart is wrong! But let's get down to the real problem. You don't hate ME Kup. You hate Rodimus."

"THAT'S STUPID!" Kup roared, glad at last to have something to deny.

"No it's not. You hate Rodimus. You hate the changes in him because you don't understand them and you don't want to. I was just an easy scapegoat to blame for the fact that he frightens you." Lancer said, condescendingly not raising her voice in response to his screaming. She was making him look childish in his responses and he hated her for it. Still he couldn't stop shouting.

"AFRAID?! OF RODIMUS?! THAT'S INSANE!" Kup roared.

"No. Rodimus is insane, and you know it," Lancer said grimly.

Kup was once again thrown completely off guard by this tactic. If anything, he thought she would claim to rightness of her bond with Rodimus, to proclaim their link sanctified somehow. He wanted her to do that, so he could point out the sense of "something wrong" with his young friend, her mate.

"Wha...What?!" was all he could force out, cursing himself for not having an answer for her tactics. All this was so unexpected - NOTHING she did was as he predicted. Shellshock's laughter rose in him again, and he shuddered in fear.

"He's nuts. Psychotic. It wasn't an Autobot I found the day I freed him! It wasn't even a man, or a thinking being! It was a rabid animal. A creature whose every breath was drawn for the sole purpose of destroying those that had hurt it. He lived FOR revenge. He was nothing but a creature consumed by impotent hatred. The only real difference is that now his hatred has a means of expression, and he nurses his little dreams of absolute annihilation very carefully."

"I...I don't believe you! Rodimus wouldn't...."

"How do you know what he wouldn't?! You never HAVE been very good at reading him now have you? You left him to Galvatron because you underestimated him, and now you do it again thinking that you know what's going on in his mind! You think you know him? You don't even know what happened to him! How did he become human Kup? HOW?"

"You...you did it to him! YOU talked him into it!"

"BULLSHIT! He was human when I found him. Try again!" Lancer snapped. For some reason, Kup complied.

"Those..the Jabez did it by accident?"

"Who told you that?" Lancer snapped.

"H..he did. The day you brought him back," Kup stammered. He felt his leaking boat rocking once again, but didn't know why or how to stop it.

"And you bought it you stupid old fool! Did you REALLY expect him to tell you? When was the last time he told YOU something that would worry you?"

"uhhh," Kup said with a strangled gasp. He couldn't answer.

"THEY TORTURED HIM YOU MORON! THEY TORE HIM AND GOLDBUG APART! OVER AND FUCKING OVER AGAIN! TURNED HIM HUMAN BY ACCIDENT! WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT! THEY DID IT ON PURPOSE AND TORTURED HIM SOME MORE!" Lancer roared. She then began to retell some of the more interesting highlights of Rodi and Goldbug's stay with the Jabez. Her eyes glazed over, and she began unconsciously speaking in first person. Rodimus was projecting memories at her. He was already on his way back to the surface - having turned tail during his after-orders threat session with Vector Sigma the instant Edana had started screaming. Fury at Kup made him sadistic, and he vengefully filled Lancer with what he had never wanted Kup to know until now. He had always known the old warrior wouldn't handle these truths well, but now he didn't care. The images overpowered Lancer, and she clung to Rodi's rage for support - she didn't have the strength he did to USE these memories. His will became the impetus for the horrors that came tumbling out of her mouth, and for that time Kup saw to his terror that SHE was NOT the one in charge. Rodimus was controlling her! For a few moments her inflections, her phrasing, even her body language became Rodimus'.

When she turned towards his computer console and inserted a crystal, she did it with strides that were no longer feminine. She glared defiantly at Kup until he came over to look at the screen. When he came to stand behind her, she suddenly sagged, and seemed herself again. Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears - she was not immune to her mate's suffering, and she hated the way Rodimus treated his pain so callously...as if, after all this time, he still didn't think it was of any consequence except to Shellshock. The crystal began its work, showing brief segments of years prior. She had cut out most of the infiltration, and just showed Kup a few key moments - Malice's rescue of Goldbug, and her own rescue of Rodi.

She saw the images hit home on Kup's face, and actually did feel rather sorry for him. It wasn't easy to watch Malice telekinetically lift Shellshock's mangled body out of its restraints and see the shattered arms flop forward bonelessly. Nearly bloodless, Shellshock's burnished gold skin took on a jaundiced color. He didn't even moan, although he did seem to be conscious for part of the time. Lancer let the recording go until it got to the moment when Rodimus had lifted his head to glare at his rescuer. She froze that hate-fired, psychotic image on the screen and looked back up at Kup. He didn't look at her but at the maddened face of his young friend.

"Now," she said, speaking quietly but with great emphasis, "I'm sure you can guess why he suppressed this information. Look at him! Did you really need to see that to know he would respond that way!? You know he'd die for any innocent person! Of course he went insane! How else could he respond when they tortured one of his people in front of him?! When they cored out the brains of helpless children in his presence!? There he is Kup! Your little boy! Driven past all the bounds of sanity! THAT'S who you hate, Kup! That thing in the cell. That thing that still can't scream. That thing which learned all the dirty little tricks I could teach it so it could kill and kill and kill until all the Jabez are decimated. THAT'S what he is! THAT'S what he's doing that he won't let you in on! And if the others know its because one way or another they all INSISTED on knowing! Op felt him through the Matrix! Jazz paid attention to Op! So did Elita! Marissa and Magnus spent months investigating that ship together! You were there! Why didn't you help them? If you had you might know a little more about why Magnus doesn't take your security reports seriously anymore! Even KC and Perceptor found out about this! No one cut you out Kup! You cut yourself out, because you would rather make up realities you are comfortable with than face the real one you aren't!"

Kup remained transfixed by Rodimus' face. His heart was already breaking, broken, and dying on some essential level as his little boat went down, but Lancer went on mercilessly. Magnus and her daughter had both paid for her sins of self-doubt and procrastination in confronting Kup, and she was going to see to it it ended here.

"You want to protect him? From me?! Don't worry about him Kup! Don't worry about Magnus or Shellshock either! No one is going to hurt them more than they've already been hurt! Unless," she hissed, finally showing fangs and her infamous rage, "the torturer in question is someone they love." Her eyes pinioned his soul with the accusation.

"No," he whispered ineffectively. It was too late for that of course.

"Oh, yes Kup." Lancer grated harshly, "Rodimus drove himself insane trying to save Goldbug, and you can't give him enough support to do more than question his choice in life-mates! Of course, I was no better. I questioned it too, but then I had my soul violated by a being so vile that I couldn't conceive how it didn't taint me. After all, it warped my body, and the experience did change my character. I didn't USED to be such a snappy bitch! What's your excuse? Magnus can tell you what it's like if you ASK him instead of TELLING him what he went through. I was frightened. I've been frightened ever since... until Unicron did me the favor of showing me I was stronger than he was. Until then I was so frightened I wouldn't let myself see the way out. I'm a good person Kup, and Rodimus is the best example I have of that. If there is anything left of Hot Rod under all that hate and pain then I had a hand in it! I was the one who kept him alive long enough to remember what he has to live for, and later his love for me even helped him ENJOY it a little."

"I didn't know!" Kup whispered. "I didn't understand!" On the screen, Rodi's hate filled eyes kept staring into him, as if all that tainted emotion was for Kup alone.

"You didn't try to! You didn't WANT to. I was just an easy target, which to my shame, I made easier for you. Rodimus and I have so little time together anyway and I tainted most of it so far with my fear. YOUR hate made it that much worse, and I let it go on. Magnus and Edana paid for it, and that too is guilt you and I share together. They should never have been brought in on this at all! Of course, we both know who suffered the most though."

"Can you forgive me?" Kup asked hopelessly.

Lancer sighed, and much of her coldness seemed to drain away. "I suppose I can...but then I never really blamed you. I have all of Rodi's memories of you Kup. I have always...loved you, and respected your judgment... that was also part of why I never fought back. Losing your friendship hurt me too, but I thought your instincts were right, even if your interpretation wasn't."

"Y...You trusted me because Rodimus did?" Kup asked.

She nodded, but something in her grave, pitying eyes told him the answer to his next question. He had to ask it anyway.

"Does he still trust me?"

"No."

Kup hid his face in his hands. 

X

X

X

"Hey Man! Slow down!" Jazz cried desperately. He and Rodimus were tearing back up through the tunnels at break-neck speed. Jazz was frightened. It wasn't just the fact that they were going almost 200 mph through corridors barely wide enough to let their vehicle modes pass, it was Rodi's flat-out refusal to tell him WHY. Rodimus had been nothing if not annoyingly cheerful all the way down; he even spoke his usual curses and insults to Vector Sigma in a sort of sing-song that seemed to distress the super-computer even more than Rodi's more typical enraged snarl. Vector Sigma had accepted the burden of scanning almost 900 square kilometers inch by inch with resignation as it always did, and had listened respectfully to the long list of trouble areas Rodimus wanted it to pay special attention to in silence. Once this business was accomplished, Rodimus went about insulting his creator with even more evident pleasure than usual. It was his habit to degrade Vector Sigma for at least half an hour at the end of each trip, and Jazz often wondered if Rodi would ever grow tired of it. The specialist didn't like this in his commander. He understood Rodi's anger, but this seemed... petty. The young Prime apparently found it quite therapudic however, and Jazz knew better than to try to dissuade him. THIS insult session had been abruptly cut short, and now Jazz was lamenting having not been more careful about what he wished for.

Rodimus had stiffened. His eyes flared a vivid, wild green. He mouthed something Jazz didn't make out and turned, transforming on the run and roaring up into the tunnels. Jazz had stammered some kind of goodbye at Vector Sigma and strained his engine trying to catch up with Rodimus. He only really managed because there were turns that simply would not accommodate Rodimus in his alternate mode. He had to transform (which he did without stopping) round the turn, and then transform again to continue his mad dash for the surface. Jazz's smaller car-mode handled a few of these turns and he was able to use them to gain ground. (He was afraid to use super-sonic speeds down here - they might collapse the tunnels.) Rodimus' heedlessness panicked the Specialist. This was bad. It had to be if Rodimus was blithely ignoring the fact his trailer had less than a foot's clearance on either side. These tunnels had been made for Quintissons, and their earliest, smallest slaves, not for insane Autobot Commanders to race through.

"Rodimus at least tell me what's up!" Jazz pleaded, not for the first time. The Specialist felt sick fear - a thousand cataclysms paraded through his imagination. Everything from Unicron's revival to a full-fledged Convert assault. Funny how KC always managed to be in the worst of every one of his scenarios.

"Edana," Rodimus finally grated back. Jazz was horrified. He hadn't even dreamt of anything happening to the baby - nothing SHOULD happen to a life so new. Now he not only understood Rodi's obvious desperation, Jazz shared it.

"What Man? What happened to Edana?" Jazz cried. Knowing hurt. Not knowing hurt more.

"Kup." Rodimus said, in exactly the same tone he used when speaking of the Jabez and Vector Sigma. Jazz was speechless for a moment. He knew Kup didn't like Lancer, and had said more than once she'd had Edana to control Rodi, but the old bot wasn't so far gone as to actually hurt (kill?!) the baby? Was he? Was he?

"Edana? Is she all right?!" Jazz asked, not able to bring himself to ask if she was dead or seriously hurt.

"She will be," Rodimus growled.

Jazz felt some kind of relief. It wasn't the actual end of the world up there, and Edana wasn't dead. That left him with the dubiously less dire situation of chasing Edana's enraged daddy out of the depths of Cybertron, and hoping Rodi was still in enough control not to cause an accident that would kill them both. Rodimus rounded another turn he really should have transformed for, and Jazz winced as the trailer dragged along the wall and threw sparks. Jazz sighed inwardly. Well, maybe no one would notice the burn marks on his paint job.

X

X

X

Optimus thanked Lancer gravely, and shut down the monitor. He headed straight for the tunnels entrance they used to get to Vector Sigma. Kup had just left his office, and he had been about to contact her to see if she was alright. She hadn't called to talk about herself though, she called to warn him about Rodimus. Optimus understood that Rodimus was in a fury, and was heading for the surface as fast as possible, but he was still astonished when Rodimus came gunning out of the entrance bare seconds after Optimus arrived at the top. His speed had topped Optimus' most exaggerated estimates of the shortest time they could possibly make down there. Optimus cursed both Rodi and himself. He had been hoping for a few quiet minutes to figure out what he was going to say to his partner. He had no pat answers for this one. Optimus was furious with all of them, Kup in particular, but the elder Prime was also worried about the old warrior now.

Kup had come to him of his own volition immediately after the confrontation with Lancer. Optimus had once again been shocked by Kup's attitude - this time by the haunted, spiritless way Kup confessed everything, taking all the blame on himself. He had droned the details of his very one-sided confrontation with Lancer, including things Optimus had no desire to learn. Apparently she had shared with Kup aspects of Rodimus and Goldbug's torment that Rodimus had hidden even from the Matrix. Optimus was finally forced to ask Kup to stop - realizing with some shame that he didn't want to know what had happened. Optimus could see that knowledge making its mark on Kup's face, and suddenly felt more sympathy for the veteran than he had in a long time. Kup's resentment against Lancer had been based on denial of Rodi's pain, and now Optimus could see that it had been a desperate form of self-preservation. Kup's soul was bleeding. In a way, Lancer's apparent attitude surprised Optimus - she had apparently been very calm and controlled - but then again, he could see her assassin's nature at work. She had set out to destroy something - Kup's attitude towards her and Edana - and she had done exactly that. With precision, and no remorse or mercy. Kup's anger, his hate, and all of his illusions were obviously broken. Unfortunately Kup seemed to have broken with them... and he had yet to face Rodimus. Betrayed, enraged Rodimus.

Optimus wanted to talk some sense of restraint into his partner, knowing full well that Rodimus could in some ways be even more viscous than Lancer, and that Kup would be more hurt by the slightest thing Rodi had to say than anything falling out of Lancer lips. Optimus was angry with himself too for not pressing Rodimus more diligently to deal with Kup sooner. Rodi's stubbornness about confronting Kup had let it build into the explosive confrontation it had become. Optimus still didn't understand why Rodimus hadn't done anything about Kup's continuous, escalating attacks on Lancer's character. It seemed completely unlike the young Prime not to defend his mate, and unlike her not to defend herself (although Optimus sensed it had to do with her possession, but Rodimus' lack of action made no sense to him at all.) Now Magnus and Edana were involved, and Rodimus was likely to be completely out of control. The young Prime was equally likely to destroy any hope he and Kup might have of salvaging what had once been a very close friendship. Optimus wanted to warn his partner of Kup's fragile state of mind. He knew Rodimus had reason to be angry, but now Kup knew too, and Rodimus didn't HAVE to be that hard on him to make his point.

All of Optimus' plans to calm Rodimus down were in vain. Rodimus roared out of the tunnels at top speed (forcing Optimus to jump aside to avoid being hit) and kept going as if Optimus hadn't been there. He didn't even transmit an apology. Jazz was right on Rodi's bumper, but transformed to stand next to Optimus.

"He's pissed," Jazz said. For once Optimus didn't comment on the human vulgarity (as he saw it.)

"Really?" Optimus said sarcastically. "I never would have guessed!" Everyone else was full of snappy sarcasm lately, and Optimus was stressed enough to resort to it now. He transformed and took off after his partner. Jazz sighed, shrugged, and transformed, giving chase as well. They floored their engines and nearly crashed into Rodimus back end when he stopped unexpectedly. Optimus left smoking skid marks for yards.

Lancer was standing, quite unafraid, in the middle of the road. Apparently she had stepped right out in front of her mate's mad dash.

Please calm him down, Optimus pleaded silently, Please, please PLEASE!

No one said anything. Jazz and Optimus idled down their motors while Rodi's seemed to run even louder than usual. Lancer put her hands on Rodi's hot hood and glared, leaving Optimus with the impression that there was a very loud, angry argument going on silently in front of them.

Finally, the driver's side door opened and Lancer went around the cab to get in. She paused, just before climbing inside, and made a minute shooing gesture at Optimus and Jazz. Rodimus drove off, a little more carefully, before she even got the door closed. The others didn't follow.

"Man!" Jazz exclaimed,"We're gonna need a new Security Chief by the time Rodi gets done with Kup!"

"I'm afraid we may need one anyway, Jazz. Lancer's already had a go at him." Optimus said with resignation. He still felt responsible somehow. He HAD warned Kup, repeatedly, but it hadn't been enough. Maybe one more time...or a different approach....but then these thoughts were useless weren't they? Kup had baited the beast too long, and now it threatened to consume him.

"And he's still alive?" Jazz asked in wonderment.

Optimus paused. "That depends on how you look at it," he finally said softly.

X

X

X

It's my fault too! Lancer sent, And yours! She got hot, wordless fury for a response - plus an image of Edana's pain wracked face.

YOU SHARE THE BLAME FOR THAT TOO RODIMUS PRIME! Lancer sent, throwing the image back at him. He stopped so suddenly that she was thrown forward in her seat. For a moment she got nothing from him verbally or mentally, just the angry idling of his engines. She got back into the seat and sat there, arms crossed, and waiting. Lancer knew her mate was angry, but she also knew that in his heart he was honest enough to see his hand in creating the current chaos.

You know I'm right, she continued when she felt his shields relax a bit, although he still didn't answer her. We never talked about it, but we both had our reasons for letting it go! It was one of those unwritten laws between us. Never talk about Kup. Never talk TO Kup! Not about us anyway! My fear and your fear! And look what it's brought us to!

A flood of pain poured from him to her - the pain of a disillusioned child that can't forgive its parent for being a fallible mortal rather than the ideal hero of its youthful fantasies. Some part of him still relied on Kup, still needed Kup to know everything when Rodi didn't, and he felt betrayed that Kup didn't know the simplest things about him.

Lancer sighed, hurting as Rodi hurt, but also trying to maintain a more objective perspective. Rodimus was still too violent when he was hurt.

Kup can't help what he is Rodimus. And he can't help it that he doesn't understand you anymore. You certainly didn't help him understand you. You wanted him to do it all on his own!

NO I DIDN'T Rodimus contradicted. I wanted him to TRY! Just once! Just once I wanted him to look at me. AT ME! Who I am NOW, and try to deal with me in those terms! Not as some blown up version of Hot Rod! He never once made the effort! Not once! I gave him as much time as I could Lancer. Now it's too late. I hate him!

You don't MEAN that Rodimus! Not really! Lancer sent, distressed. Kup, and the love of Kup, were a fundamental part of Rodi's soul.

Yes I do. Part of me still loves him, what he was to me anyway. But I hate what he's become! What he is! And that's the heart of it! He wants what I WAS, but I can only see what he is. And I don't like it! I hate it! The love I feel for him just makes it worse!

Lancer nodded, and did her best to comfort him. She didn't argue anymore though. She understood.

X

X

X

They got to Kup's quarters and Rodimus let Lancer out. Then he shifted down to human form and took her hand. When Kup answered the door, he seemed despondent, but a little surprised to see Lancer. Kup waited a moment once they got inside, but it quickly became clear Rodimus had no intention of making this any easier by speaking first or returning to Autobot form.

Kup noticed Rodi's white-knuckled grip on Lancer's hand as well, and heard the unspoken message. They were together and he would have to face them that way. A new reality for him to face - they were the couple. He was the interloper. The realization was like a knife in his chest. Kup went down on his knees, and spoke to the floor.

"I'm sorry."

"You betrayed me," Rodimus said coldly, as if he were talking to a stranger. "AGAIN! What does that have to do with 'sorry'?"

"I thought I was helping you," Kup whispered.

"If you thought anything at all it was that you were helping yourself. All you wanted was to hold on to me! Your student! Your prodigy! Is that all you are Kup? My teacher? Are you nothing if you can not claim YOU taught me what I know? Is all your self-worth based on the idea that someone else clings helplessly to you for advise? I'm to be dependent on you forever apparently, and any hint that I might learn or do something outside your experience is an obvious sign I've been deceived or corrupted!"

"It's not like that! Rodimus I didn't know! I didn't know how much they hurt you! All I knew was that you changed and..."

"And you automatically assumed I was too stupid to know what was going on! I was missing an entire year and you knew better than I did about what happened! I'm a reckless, brainless child to you and always will be, unless of course, I do something you're proud enough to take credit for!" Rodimus snapped.

Kup gaped a minute, then bowed his head again. "I'm sorry. Please Rodimus! I'd give anything to have our friendship back the way it was..."

"IT WILL NEVER BE THE WAY IT WAS! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND YET?! Our friendship is DEAD! DEAD! I trusted you! I needed you! I went through so much! I wanted your advise, and I wished you were there, but you weren't, and I lived, and you punished me for it! I changed, I grew up, and you hated me for it! I fell in love and instead of sharing my happiness you tried deliberately to harm it! You TRIED to harm it! And worse you fought to JUSTIFY it! You aren't stupid Kup! It doesn't take a genius to see I was unhappy without Lancer! Or that I'm happy with her! No matter how many lies you tell me and yourself, you KNEW that much! But Lancer taught me things you didn't, and knew things about me you couldn't, and you couldn't stand that!"

Rodimus paused for breath, and Lancer squeezed his hand. Kup didn't look up or speak, and it worried Lancer. She ran her other hand along Rodi's rigid, trembling arm, trying to soothe or placate him. He ignored her, keeping his burning green eyes on Kup. The Security Chief glanced up briefly and saw the hard, bitter look that really was aimed at him this time. Kup knew in that instant that even all that Lancer had told him about the torture had been mild. The being that faced him was a scarred alien thing - and far, far stronger than Kup would even know or even guess. Under that usually cheerful facade lurked incalculable anguish and power. Kup couldn't face it. He looked down again as Rodimus continued.

"Maybe, maybe if you had left it with me and Lancer I could have forgiven you, but you didn't. In your search for justification you tried to turn the others against us. Even that might have been excusable - no one listened, and Lancer is strong enough to endure anything YOU could dish out, but even that wasn't enough for you. You had to go and attack Magnus, your friend, who just BARELY survived tangling with UNICRON for Cybertron's sake! And Marissa! For weeks that woman fought, and suffered, and pushed herself to the brink to save one of YOUR friends for the simple reason she loves him and you reward her by slandering her! The way you act you must think Magnus and I are pretty shitty people if no one could ever possibly love us for ourselves! Not to mention too stupid to know what's real and what isn't! As if you did! Tell me Kup! Is that it or is it just that since no one ever loved YOU that way so you think it doesn't exist at all! And what exactly do you think Marissa gained from spoon feeding Magnus pudding and tabasco sauce for five weeks?"

Kup sobbed but didn't say anything. What could he say?

"Rodimus," Lancer said, "It's enough."

He jerked away from her. "No. It isn't! We need to get to the cherry on top, don't we Kup? Lets talk about Edana, my friend. Let's talk about an 11 month old baby, MY DAUGHTER, in pain, because the person who passes for her paternal grandfather HATES her...and wants to kill her!" Rodi's controlled voice wavered on the edge of tears. "Hates her," he whispered. "You couldn't even be happy for me for that Kup. I have a daughter, and you hate her. You. Of all people. If I had ever been asked in advance, I would have wanted, I would have expected, you to teach her the way you taught me. I would have been sure you would have been delighted to pass on your stories and your wisdom. You taught her hate. She's not even a year old yet, but she knows hate now Kup. What a lesson. As if innocence wasn't fragile enough."

Kup shuddered, knowing there were no words that could ever undo what he had done. "What can I do?" he cried. "What can I do to make amends?" Lancer heard the desperation in his voice and wished Rodimus would unbend just a little, but her mate remained unmoved. He was the teacher now, and he intended Kup to learn this lesson past all unlearning.

"Nothing," Rodimus said. "There is nothing you can do. I don't trust you. I don't respect you. I don't even like you. Maybe there will come a day when I can look back on your actions without feeling hurt and betrayed. Maybe Edana will forget. As of right now though, you and I are soldiers in the same army, nothing more. I can not claim to know the future, or whether there will ever be more or not, but I do know that if you want MY trust again you are going to have to EARN it." With that, he took Lancer's hand again, and without waiting to see if Kup had a reply, they left him behind.

When Kup got up off the floor a long time later, it was only to turn off the lights.


End file.
